TK 10R1 
. R42 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

Chap... Copyright No,. 



UNITED STATES OF AMERSCA. 




K a 



ELECTRICITY 

AND 

WATER POWER 

AND THEIR 

INTER-RELATIONS 



A POPULAR TREATISE 

DESIGNED TO HELP THE BUSINESS MAN, THE 

MECHANIC AND THE STUDENT TO FORM 

RELIABLE CONCEPTIONS AS TO THE 

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 

OF ELECTRICITY AND 

wat/r POWER 

/ 

By Mark A. Reploqle, Engineer 




ILLUSTRATED . \VU\ 



PUBLISHED BY 

ELECTRICAL REVIEW PUBLISHING CO. 

Times Building, New York 

1896 



- 



c^ 



Copyright, 1896 

BY 

Electrical Review Publishing Company 



p 




PRESS OF 

THE JAMES KEMPSTER PRINTING CO., 

NEW YORK. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. Electricity 9 

II. What is Electricity ? 13 

III. Conductors 16 

IV. Table of Conductivity 19 

V. Magnetism 22 

VI. Arc Electric Lighting 25 

VII. Incandescent Lighting 28 

VIII. Electric Power 32 

IX. The Electric Motor and Dynamo 36 

X. Batteries 40 

XL Electrical Units 44 

XII. Force, Motion and Power 49 

XIII. Water Power 56 

XIV. Water-Wheels 63 

XV. Government of Water Powder. . 74 

XVI. Development of Water Power. 80 

XVII. Power Transmission 83 

XVIII. Suggestions 90 

XIX. Representative Electrical-Water- 

Power Plants 94 

XX. The Greatest of Electric Water- 

Power Propositions, Niagara 
Falls 132 

XXI. Further Proofs That Harnessing 

Water Power Electrically Is a 
Realism .. .147 



PREFACE. 



These articles are not designed as 
an engineering work, and it is not 
claimed that the principles set forth 
in them are identical with those of 
the most advanced thinkers. 

To become conversant with any 
subject, one must have conceptions or 
clear-cut mental pictures that he may 
depend upon and feel to be reliable 
and true; and; since the forces we call 
" electricity" and "power" cannot 
be seen, except by mental vision, it 
follows that no two minds have the 
same conceptions, as no two minds 
are alike. 

The suddenness of the advent of 
electrical appliances has prevented 
many who are perfectly able, but 
engaged in other pursuits, from ac- 
quiring a knowledge of the funda- 
mental principles by which electrical 

7 



phenomena are explained. The works 
of the engineers immediately plunge 
into the "meaningless" formulas of 
mathematics, which serve only to 
make these principles more myste- 
rious. 

The tvish of the author is to put 
these principles into plain language, 
and in such a light that the busy 
man, the mechanic, and the beginner 
can form conceptions that will bear 
them out in reasoning or in making 
general calculations. 

If he succeeds in dispelling the 
cloud of mystery. that prevents many 
from seeing clearly the causes of 
various phenomena in the electrical 
and power world, so that even a few 
will be saved weeks and (as in his own 
case) months of perplexingdifficulties, 
he will feel that his work has accom- 
plished its purpose. 

The Author. 

New York, October 1, 1896. 



CHAPTER I. 



ELECTRICITY. 

The material universe contains a 
never-varying quantity of electricity, 
and each atom of matter inherits by 
the laws of nature its share, depend- 
ing somewhat on the nature of the 
matter itself. If every atom of mat- 
ter contained its portion at any one 
time, no electrical phenomena could 
be seen or discerned at such time. 

All motion of electrical force is 
regulated by the law of supply and 
demand. All motion in nature is the 
result of forces seeking rest, a run- 
ning down hill, as it were, stopping 
when the forces are equalized and 
balanced. But the forces of nature 
are so intermingled and so overlap 
each other that, while one force is 
rinding an equilibrium, or state of rest, 
it disturbs other forces, which in turn 

9 



seek rest, and disturb still other forces. 
Thus in nature comes all motion — 
that of the air, of steam, of the clouds, 
of the streams, the lightnings, and 
of the flow of electrical currents — and 
the work of the true student of 
nature is to find the relation that the 
forces bear to each other. 

The field is infinite, and but few 
of the pebbles have been gathered. 

Electricity is not and can not be 
manufactured, as some suppose, but 
can simply be put in motion through 
conductors or wires. Thus currents 
are created, but not electricity. The 
flow is the result of an electric vacuum 
at one end of the wire and a pressure 
at the other end, but the two ends of 
the wire in practice are attached to a 
battery or dynamo, as the case may 
be. The battery and dynamo are 
then nothing more than electrical 
pumps. The wires are pipes that 
are always full, because they are 
material, and of such a nature that 
the electricity can easily pass from 

10 



atom to atom when put under press- 
ure. 

Some kinds of material have such 
an arrangement of their atoms that 
theelectricity,even under great press- 
ure, cannot readily flow from atom 
to atom. Such materials are called 
insulators, and are used to keep elec- 
tric currents within bounds; yet each 
atom of the insulating material con- 
tains its share, or will draw slowly 
from others until it does. Currents 
can be created in metallic circuits 
with less pressure, hence less power, 
than in other kinds of material. 

There are,however,different degrees 
of resistance in the metals, and in 
commercial electricity the metal that 
will carry the most electricity for its 
cost in money is nearly always em- 
ployed. Copper has this quality, 
hence it is used more than others. 
Iron has six times the resistance of 
copper — that is, it would take six 
pounds of iron to carry the same 
quantity of electricity a given dis- 

11 



tance that one pound of copper 
would; but one pound of copper wire 
costs less money than six pounds of 
iron wire, so copper is used. 



12 



CHAPTER II. 



WHAT IS ELECTRICITY ? 

This is the question that very nat- 
urally presents itself to the minds of 
those who see the phenomena, but 
up to the present no man knows, or, 
at least, no one has been able to 
put forth a theory that will satisfy 
our advanced thinkers. The man 
who satisfies the world as to what it 
is will have climbed to heights un- 
reached by Newton or Bacon. 

We have no sense that can directly 
detect it. We can see the effects of 
it, also hear, taste, feel, and smell 
effects of it, but the force itself can 
only become an entity as it appeals to 
us through our secondary or reasoning 
powers. A conception of this entity 
must be formed by each individual 
for himself, and his mental picture 

13 



of it is a product of the facts placed 
before him and his imagination. 

Electricity is probably a condition 
or property of matter, but the writer 
prefers to consider it in ail its bear- 
ings and relations as a fluid or mate- 
rial — a highly elastic material — not 
affected by gravity or centrifugal 
force, and haying no inertia or mo- 
mentum. 

It is so subtle that it pervades all 
material that appeals to our senses, 
but the ever-changing forces of nature 
in unwinding themselves shift it 
about, causing here a pressure and 
there a tendency to a vacuum, keeping 
quantities of it in motion all the 
time. Man has discovered how to 
put it in motion, and how to make it 
perform work in its efforts to find 
rest, and on these discoveries are 
based all of the electrical sciences. 

Electricity in its natural condition 
is passive ; it only becomes active 
when some exterior force is brought 
to bear upon it, and can only give 

14 



out the amount of power or energy 
put into it; hence it is only a 
means of transferring energy from 
one point to another. There is and 
can be only one kind of electricity. 
The different names, such as "static," 
"frictional," "galvanic," "thermo," 
" dynamic," etc. , have arisen through 
different men viewing electrical phe- 
nomena from different standpoints. 
The terms "positive" and "negative" 
are used, but are sometimes mislead- 
ing to the beginner. 

An atom of material is only positive 
when it contains more than its share 
of the fluid, for then it is trying to 
supply its neighbors with the surplus. 
If an atom does not contain its share, 
it is negative, and proceeds to draw 
from its neighbors, and does so until 
an equilibrium is established. Posi- 
tive indicates a surplus, or pressure, 
and negative an absence, or vacuum. 



15 



CHAPTER III. 



CONDUCTORS. 

Electricity is governed in its flow 
by well known laws. A river will 
sometimes run many miles around 
a mountain rather than run one mile 
through it. The reason is that the 
mountain is composed of material 
that it can not readily pass through, 
yet, if it came to the mountain with 
such force that the earth and rocks 
would give way before it, it would 
pass through. The same law always 
holds good in electric currents. 

Gravity is the force that causes the 
river to flow from the mountain tops 
to the ocean. The battery and dynamo 
in like manner force the fluid through 
the wires. 

The air and other insulating ma- 

16 



terials are the impenetrable mount- 
ains and the wires are the valleys. 
Electricity, then, always takes the 
course of the least resistance, no mat- 
ter how far around it is, and in case 
of a battery or dynamo, the same elec- 
tricity goes around and around 
through the pumps as long as there 
is a vacuum at one side and a pressure 
at the other. The quantity depends 
on the pressure and the resistance or 
holding-back power of the wire. 

The writer expects to be criticised 
on his views of the elasticity of the 
electric fluid ; but scientists have 
clearly shown us that, as in the casa 
of the Leyden jar, the fluid can be 
drawn from one piece of material 
and deposited in another, and what 
is left is equally distributed through- 
out, yet they claim that it has no 
elasticity; but, as it has no inertia, its 
action in all cases is the same as that 
of material that is inelastic. The 
obstruction, or resistance, of the wire 
to the passing current causes heat, 

17 

(2) 



the same as would be caused by any 
material passing through other ma- 
terial. 



18 



CHAPTER IV. 



TABLE OF CONDUCTIVITY. 

The conductivity of metals is deter- 
mined by their inherent or natural 
resistance to electric current. The 
amount of current that will flow 
under a given pressure depends en- 
tirely on the specific resistance of the 
material through which the current 
is to flow ; and a change in tempera- 
ture changes the resistance in various 
materials. To be exact, in speaking 
of resistance, the temperature should 
always be known. 

The following table will give a gen- 
eral idea of the conductivity of some 
of the common metals at a tempera- 
ture of zero, centigrade thermom- 
eter. Silver having the highest con- 
ductivity, is rated 100. Impurities 
also change the conductivity, and in 

19 



the table the metals are supposed to 
be pure: 

Silver 100. 

Copper 99.9 

Gold 80. 

Platinum 18.0 

Iron 16.8 

Tin 13.1 

Sodium 37.4 

Aluminum 34. 

Zinc 29.4 

Cadmium. 23.7 

Brass 22. 

Potassium 20.8 

Lead 8.3 

German silver 7.7 

Antimony 4.6 

Mercury 1.6 

Bismuth 1.2 

Graphite 0.07 

Note. — Glass is called an insulator, 
and compared in the same way would 
rank at about 0.000000(00000000157. 

It will be noticed that aluminum 
will conduct about one-third as readily 
as copper, also brass about one-fourth, 

20 



iron about one-sixth and German 
silver about one-thirteenth as readily 
as copper. Glass conducts so poorly 
that it can be used where the electri- 
cian wishes to prevent a flow of cur- 
rent. Other common insulators are 
rubber, paper, fiber, gutta-percha, 
wood, wax, cloth, etc. 



21 



CHAPTER V. 



MAGNETISM. 

Magnetism is always found where 
there is any electrical phenomena,, 
and on account of this has caused 
much confusion in the minds of 
students. In one sense it might be 
considered the only avenue through 
which electricity has any power value 
to man. Magnetism is not electricity, 
but it is incident to it, aud always 
bears a certain relation to it. If an 
electric current is in motion, lines of 
magnetic force are passing around 
the current (in reality, running at 
right angles to the current). If the 
current of electricity should change 
to the opposite direction, the lines of 
magnetic force immediately reverse, 
keeping at right angles to the current. 

Lines of magnetic force are noth- 

22 



ing more than rows of atoms polar- 
ized ; that is, arranged in regular 
order. It will be remembered that 
each atom of matter is supposed to 
have a positive and a negative pole, 
and when the atoms of any portion of 
material are polarized it becomes a 
magnet. So magnetism is nothing 
more than a condition of the material 
surrounding an electric current, and 
it is not electricity. We only know 
that this is a fact ; but none can tell 
whether it is out of respect to the 
passing current or whether some 
unknown law compels lines of mag- 
netism to run around the passing 
current. 

The work done by electricity is 
done by the magnetism surrounding 
the passing current and not by the 
electricity itself. If lines of force or 
magnetism are caused to run around 
a wire which is a part of a complete 
circuit, the electricity in the wire 
will move in one direction. If the 
lines of force were to move in the 

23 



opposite direction, the electricity in 
the wire would also move in the oppo- 
site direction. This principle is the 
foundation of all dynamos. 

Let this be understood : A wire or 
tiny conductor, having a current of 
electricity passing through it, has 
lines of magnetic force passing one 
way around it, and the number is in 
the direct ratio to the quantity of 
current passing through the wire. 
This magnetic effect is strongest close 
to the wire, and decreases inversely 
as the square of the distance. 

A permanent magnet has lines of 
magnetic force continually passing 
throirgh it. It is possible that, if all 
were known pertaining to it, a con- 
tinuous current of electricity might 
be somewhere found that makes or 
keeps it a magnet, or else the magnet 
may be keeping up a current some- 
where. 



24 



CHAPTER VI. 



ARC ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 

Having dwelt at some length on 
the principles of the flow of currents, 
the remainder of the phenomena at- 
tending such flow becomes easy to 
understand, and we will begin with 
lighting and display the principles 
of all the well-known phenomena. 

If electricity were forced through 
material that offers a high resistance 
to it, the mechanical power required 
to force it through such resistance 
would be converted into molecular 
motion or heat. If the area of 
resistance is small, the heat is intense, 
and becomes more intense as the 
quantity of current increases. Air 
offers a very high resistance to cur- 
rents, hence becomes white-hot when 
electricity passes through it. (Acur- 

25 



rent passing through air is called an 
arc.) If the ends of the wire were 
used to cause the arc, they would 
melt from the excessive heat and 
could not be regulated properly, 
hence carbon pencils are used. 

The pencils do not melt, but shell 
off in a kind of carbon vapor, and the 
friction caused by the current passing 
through the air heats it and the 
carbon points to a white heat, emitting 
light. Arc lights are made from both 
continuous and alternating currents. 
The former flow in one direction 
only, and the latter are currents that 
are reversed many hundred times in 
a minute. (Since electricity has no 
inertia, it can be reversed very 
quickly, and a reversing current is 
called an alternating current.) 

The small machinery in an arc 
lamp is for regulating the distance 
between the carbon points as they 
wear off. A two-thousand (2,000) 
candle-power arc lamp requires a 
trifle over one horse-power of mecban- = 

26 



ical energy to run it. Arc lights 
usually are connected in series; that 
is, follow each other in the same 
wire, and the pressure must be in- 
creased as each new lamp is put into 
the circuit. 



27 



CHAPTER VII. 



INCANDESCENT ELECTKIC LIGHTING. 

The incandescent light is caused 
by makiug a small portion of the wire 
so small that it becomes heated by 
the current. Nearly all of the 
materials in nature will oxidize or 
burn when white-hot, in ordinary 
atmosphere, but the commercial in- 
candescent lamp has its contracted 
or small conductor in a glass globe, 
from which the oxygen has been 
removed, and the filament, as it is 
called, is nothing more than a carbon- 
ized thread of some strong fiber, 
such as bamboo or linen. 

Since the oxygen is gone from the 
globe, the filament can not burn and 
remains intact until weakened by 
scaling and crystallization. Both con- 
tinuous and alternating currents are 

28 



used for incandescent lighting, and 
the lamps are usually in multiple; 
that is, each is fed from the same 
feed wire, and each receives the full 
pressure of the dynamo or trans- 
former. In some cases these lamps 
are used in arc circuits, but there 
must be enough of them in multiple 
to allow the whole current to pass 
without destroying the filaments by 
over-heating. From eight (8) to ten 
(10) sixteen-candle-power lamps can 
be had from one mechanical horse- 
power of energy. Some manufac- 
turers claim more. 

TRANSFORMERS OR CONVERTERS. 

The electrical engineer, while 
scheming to transmit energy as 
cheaply as possible, must keep in 
mind the safety of the people who 
use it. It is a fact that the higher 
the pressure used to convey energy 
through a wire, the more can be 
carried on a given sized wire, but it 
is also a fact that the higher the press- 

29 



ure, the more dangerous does the 
wire become. So, by the use of the 
alternating current and transformer, 
high pressure aud safety are both, 
possible in the same installation. 
The high-pressure current is brought 
to a transformer outside of a building, 
and, after passing around the primary 
coils, returns to the dynamo. 

Inside the primary coil is a second- 
ary coil of larger wire, and both coils 
are inclosed in laminated soft iron 
cases. A new current is generated 
in the secondary coil of lower and 
safe pressure. This supplies the 
lamps in the building. (The new 
current is caused by induction, and 
is also an alternating current.) 

Transformers can be constructed to 
step up to higher pressure, as well 
as down to lower. There is no gain 
or loss of energy save that due to fric- 
tion, and if the pressure is stepped 
down, the quantity increases; if 
stepped up, the quantity diminishes, 
leaving the same amount of energy. 

30 



LCxMI^OUS OR SPRAY LIGHTING. 

These phenomena are caused by 
exceeding high pressures and small 
quantities of electricity. They may 
be seen to a small extent by present- 
ing a metallic point to a heavily 
loaded belt driving some machine. 
It can be seen best after dark. In 
such a case it is an intermittent cur- 
rent. Nikola Tesla is astonishing 
the world by this kind of phenomena 
from high-potential, alternating cur- 
rents, and all eyes are turned towards 
him for facts in this line. 



CHAPTER HI! 



ELECTEIC POWER. 

It has, no doubt, been noticed 
that lighting by electricity is a result 
of impeding the electric current by 
resistance ; but power is the result 
of impeding the magnetism around 
the current. (This, in turn, impedes 
the current.) Work or power is 
acquired from the current, only by 
the use of the electro-magnet. 

An electro-magnet is simply a 
concentration of the magnetism of 
a current through a long wire. If 
one inch of a conducting wire with 
a given current throws off a certain 
number of lines of magnetic force, 
100 inches will throw off 100 times 
as many. So the 100 inches may 
be wound on a piece of iron called 
a core, and the full amount of mag-. 

32 



netism will be concentrated in the 
ends of the core. If the iron is soft 
it ceases to be a magnet as soon as 
the current stops, and becomes a 
magnet as soon as the current passes 
again. 

Here is the foundation of all our 
telegraph systems. The operator 
with his key starts a current 
through the distant magnet. It 
in turn attracts a small piece of 
iron with a "click," and when the 
current is stopped by breaking the 
circuit a spring pulls the piece of 
iron away with a "'clack." Com- 
binations of clicks and clacks are 
letters and words. 

The force with which an electro- 
magnet (properly constructed) at- 
tracts soft iron has led many search- 
ing minds to an idea of transferring 
power in a manner similar to the 
telegraph; that is, by wire. This 
idea has been experimented upon 
during the past few years to such an 
extent that it has been proved beyond 

33 

(3; 



doubt that energy or power can be 
transmitted great distances by the 
use of electric currents and with less 
loss than by any other means. Let 
it be understood, however, that there 
is no power in electricity except that 
put into it. In other words, the wire 
circuit is dead until we put the elec- 
tricity it contains in motion by some 
external power or force. This can 
only be done by or through the means 
of magnetism, when our energy is 
applied in the form of power. 

The machine that is constructed 
for the purpose of mechanically wrap- 
ping magnetism about or around the 
conducting wire is called a dynamo 
by the electrician, and in doing so it 
consumes power in the same ratio 
that the current is allowed to flow 
through the wire, plus the friction or 
loss in heat. The battery puts the 
electricity in a wire circuit in motion 
by means of chemical action. One 
of the results of chemical action is 
electrical pressure, and if a wire is 

34 



connected to a part of a battery that 
is under electrical pressure, and be 
continued even for a great distance, 
any point in this wire will be found 
to be under electrical pressure. If 
this wire is returned to the battery 
and connected to the part of it that 
is negative, or has a tendency to an 
electrical vacuum, then a current will 
flow as long as the chemical action 
continues in the battery. 

The electric current generated by 
the dynamo is in all respects like 
the current generated by a battery; 
that is, a continuous dynamic cur- 
rent is identical with a battery cur- 
rent. The distant telegraphic in- 
strument then by the proper re- 
modeling becomes a machine that 
will take power from a passing 
current, and the part that only 
vibrated in telegraphy is placed on 
axles, and revolves when a current 
is passing through it. The instru- 
ment in this shape is called a motor 
by the electrician. 

35 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE ELECTKIC MOTOR. 

The motor is simply such a com- 
bination of electro-magnets as will 
(through the laws of attraction) cause 
one circular maguet (called the arma- 
ture) to rotate on its axis, when the 
current of electricity is passing 
througn all of them. Although the 
armature revolves, it is provided with 
means that allow the passing current 
to enter it and flow around it longi- 
tudinally many times in its circuit, 
and then flow out aud back through 
the return wire to the source of energy 
or electrical pressure. 

The portion of the motor that 
keeps this current in the proper wires 
at all times is called a commutator, 
and is, in some respects, a very com- 
plex portion of a motor or dynamo. 

36 



To define it in simple words, we 
might say that a commutator is an 
automatic system of switches that 
directs the flowing current into such 
wires of the revolving armature as 
are necessary to cause the magnetism 
of the armature to bear such relation 
to the magnetism of the field magnets 
that the effect is motion of the arma- 
ture. 

The motor can be built to run with 
alternating and polyphase currents 
as well as continuous currents. (A 
polyphase current is nothing more 
than a compound alternating current, 
and requires more than two wires to 
carry it.) Motors that are especially 
designed for polyphase currents are 
called induction motors and do not 
have commutators. A separate and 
distinct current is induced and kept 
within the armature. To this cur- 
rent is due the magnetism necessary 
to cause the revolutions. A high 
efficiency is claimed. Motors may be 
made to run in synchronism, or keep 

37 



step with alternating current dyna- 
mos. Motors may also be built to 
run from intermittent currents. 

DYKiMO ELECTRIC MACHINE. 

The dynamo is nothing more than 
a motor running backwards, and the 
power applied to it forces the elec- 
tricity around through the wire, to 
be impeded for light, or have its 
magnetism impeded for power. (As 
we have said before, these operations 
impede the current.) While the mag- 
netism and current always travel at 
right angles to each other, they, how- 
ever, are a kind of Siamese twins that 
can not be separated. 

The actual duty of the dynamo is 
to cause, in a mechanical way, lines 
of magnetic force from the field mag- 
nets to pass around the wires on the 
revolving armature, and the electrical 
pressure, end wise in these wires,causes 
all the electricity in the circuit to 
move. The greater the pressure the 
faster the current. Dynamos are 

38 



constructed for continuous, alter- 
nating and polyphase currents, also 
for high and low pressure. 

The dynamo will be treated of more 
fully under the head " Power Trans- 
mission." 



39 



CHAPTER X. 



BATTERIES. 

Batteries are of many kinds, but 
all of them are simply electric pumps, 
and the pressure is due to the chemi- 
cal action. There are two classes, 
however — open circuit and closed 
circuit. The open-circuit battery is 
so called because it can not maintain 
its initial pressure for any great 
length of time; hence the circuit 
must remain open when not at work. 

The closed circuit battery is usually 
called a gravity battery, because 
gravity causes the changes that allow 
it to maintain a constant pressure. 
This last battery is employed very 
largely for telegraphy. 

STORAGE BATTERIES. 

Storage batteries do not store elec- 
tricity. A dynamic or other continu- 

40 



ous current in passing through them 
causes a chemical action to take 
place. When this current is stopped 
the contents of the cells tends to 
change to its original condition, 
and while doing so the battery be- 
comes an electric pump, as any other 
battery; thus, instead of supplying 
chemicals, as is necessary with ordi- 
nary batteries, they are formed by the 
dynamic current passing through the 
cell. 

On account of their great weight, 
and disarrangement by the motion of 
the car/ these batteries, or accumu- 
lators, have not yet proved a success 
commercially for driving street cars. 
The only real storage of electricity is 
in the principle of the Leyden jar. 
In this case the electricity is actually 
taken from one portion of material 
and deposited in another portion. 
The quantity thus stored is so limited 
that it is of no value commercially, 
and amounts to little more than a 
plaything. 

41 



Accumulators, however, are of real 
value in central stations. By the 
direct system of power or lighting a 
plant must be maintained equal to 
the greatest required output; but by 
the use of accumulators a small plant 
running all the time at good efficiency 
can accumulate energy enough to 
permit a heavy output during the 
busy hours. 

ELECTRIC HEAT. 

Heat is derived from electric cur- 
rents in the same manner as light, 
by impeding the current with resist- 
ance. A kind of wire is used that 
offers a great deal of resistance ; this 
is inclosed in porcelain, asbestos or 
other insulating material ; and the 
greater the current the greater the 
heat. 

For general heating this is too 
expensive. The best steam engine 
can only utilize fifteen per cent (15$) 
of the energy of the fuel. The dyna- 
mo can give a little over ninety per 

42 



cent (90$) of this; bat for cooking, 
ironing, etc., it is often cheaper than 
fuel. Cheap water power will be used 
extensively for generating current for 
electric heating in the future. 



43 



CHAPTER XL 



ELECTRICAL UNITS. 

The measurement of electrical cur- 
rents is, perhaps, the most difficult 
of all measurements to understand, 
yet without some means of determin- 
ing the quantity of force and the 
quality of force, electricity would be 
of no value in the commercial world. 

Electricity was known hundreds of 
years before it became known in the 
power world, and it was only after 
Ohm had demonstrated that it could 
be measured correctly that it was 
employed in commerce. The little 
formula called "Ohm's Law " will 
perpetuate his name, although to the 
average reader it may be meaningless. 
To state it in its simplest form it is : 
C = E -f- R ; meaning, the current 

44 



equals the electro-motive force di- 
vided by the resistance. We will 
give below a few of the common units 
of electrical measurements. 

The volt is the unit of pressure, or 
electro-motive force (E. M. F.), and is 
equal to a little greater pressure than 
that exerted by a common gravity 
cell. The volt is represented by " E " 
in all electrical calculations. 

The ampere is the unit of current 
strength and denotes the rate of cur- 
rent flow past a given point in the 
wire. The ampere is about equal 
to the rate of flow through a sixteen 
(16) candle-power lamp burning 
under fifty-two (52) volts' pressure. 
In electrical calculations the ampere 
is represented by '• C/' 

The ohm is the unit of resistance 
or holding back power of the wire. 
Resistance is the bane of the mechani- 
cal engineer, but without it elec- 
tricity could not be controlled ; hence 
would be of no value. One thousand 
feet of copper wire No. 10 (Brown 

45 



& Sharpe) gauge has about one (1) 
ohm resistance, but if the 1,000 feet 
were twice as thick, that is, if the area 
of its cross-section was twice as great, 
it would only have one-haif ( y 2 ) an oh m 
resistance, and the less the resistance 
the greater the flow of current under 
a given voltage. So the electrician 
regulates the flow of currents entirely 
by the resistance, when the dynamo 
pressure is fixed. 

The ohm is represented by "R" 
in electrical calculations. You will 
now notice, by the formula, that the 
number of amperes' flow can be 
determined by dividing the number 
of volts, or dynamo pressure, by the 
number of ohms' resistance in the 
wire. Also, if any two of these quan- 
tities are known, the third can be 
easily calculated. 

The watt is the unit of energy and 
is equal to -yfa of a horse-power (746 
watts equal one horse-power). If the 
volts' pressure of a dynamo is mul- 
tiplied by the amperes' flow, the 

46 



product will be watts. Divide the 
number of watts by 746 and the 
quotient will be mechanical horse- 
power. The watt is represented by 

The coulomb is the unit of quantity 
and is the amount that flows past a 
given point in a wire, in a second, 
with a current strength of one am- 
pere. It is represented by " Q." 

The joule is the unit of heat, and 
is found by multiplying volts by 
coulombs. Represented by " Wj." 

The farad is the unit of capacity 
and is used in calculations where 
residual effects are considered. Rep- 
resented by "K." 

The henry is the unit of self-induc- 
tion, and is considered in magnetic 
calculations. It is represented by 

The dyne is the absolute unit of 
force and is the basis of all calcula- 
tions in electrical and mechanical 
forces. It is the unit from which all 
calculations of energy diverge. The 

47 



dyne is the quantity of force required 
to start a body, equal in weight to 
one cubic centimeter of distilled water 
at a temperature of four degrees centi- 
grade, to a velocity of one centimeter 
per second. One horse-power (H.-P.) 
is equal to about 7,464,388,525 dynes 
in the latitude of London. 

Our treatment of electrical prin- 
ciples has been condensed and very 
general. If the reader wishes details 
he must consult text-boobs or engi- 
neering works. 



48 



CHAPTER XII. 



FORCE. 



Force., motion and power hold cer- 
tain distinct relations to each other, 
but,on account of inaccurate thinking, 
they often form a kind of mixture in 
our mental conceptions. Force might 
be regarded as pressure, or ability to 
put material in motion. We have no 
sense that can detect force except by 
its action on material. Its effect 
only can appeal to our senses; hence 
our reasoning powers. In a few 
avenues man has learned to control 
it. He can store it and release it 
only by bringing other forces to bear 
upon it. 

Nature has supplied forces in infi- 
nite quantities and numbers. These 
forces are in continual warfare with 
each other. A disregarding man pauses 

49 

(4) 



until he gets a faint conception of some 
of them, employs a few of these to 
accomplish his selfish ends, and stands 
before his less observing brethren 
a philosopher. 

As before said, force is the ability 
or pressure that can give motion to 
material. Motion is the result of 
force applied to material, but power 
is sustained motion, the result of force 
continually applied to material; that 
is, the time of the motion must be 
considered in reckoning power. 

The ordinary unit of power is the 
foot-pound. It is the amount of 
power represented by one pound of 
material acted upon by the force 
gravity in moving one foot toward 
the center of the earth in one minute 
of time. The ordinary definition of 
foot-pound is the amount of power 
required to lift one pound one foot 
high in one minute; 3o,000 foot- 
pounds are called one horse-power 
(H.-P.). 



50 



MOTION. 

There are several kinds of motion. 
That which we are most familiar 
with is continuous motion; that is, 
masses of material continuously 
changing position. There is another 
motion of material that we wish to 
call special attention to. It is the 
vibrating motion of the molecules, or 
molecular motion. 

We may take a piece of any solid 
substance, say iron, at any ordinary 
temperature, and if we could discern 
with the physical eye, we would learn 
that its molecules (while each seems 
to be gripping its neighbor tightly) 
are, in reality, bounding back and 
forth like fractious colts. The mass, 
or aggregation, of molecules may be 
in a state of rest, but if the energy 
stored in it, in the shape of molec- 
ular motion, were converted into 
continuous motion or power, there 
would be enough power to move the 
piece of iron some distance. 

If we bring some outside force to 
51 



bear upon our piece of iron, causing 
such an increase in the molecular 
motion that we can perceive it by the 
sense of feeling, we call it warm or 
hot. If we increase this molecular 
motion by external forces to a point 
where the molecules lose their tight 
grip on each other, our iron is in 
liquid form. If we continue to in- 
crease the molecular motion until the 
molecules in their rapid motions 
crowd themselves apart, forcing each 
other into surrounding materials, we 
say it has turned to gas. What is 
true of iron is true of all solids. 

The forces of nature in battling 
with each other give molecular motion 
to material. The molecular motion 
or heat of the material of the earth is 
the direct result of the ever-battling 
forces of nature. 

How kind of nature to maintain a 
temperature that man can live in. 
A hundred degrees warmer or colder, 
on an average, would make the earth 
barren. To be sure the heat of our 

52 



surroundings or climate varies, but it 
is in the ratio that one set of forces 
gain for a time, an advantage over 
their antagonists. 

POWEK. 

Power is nothing more than the 
molecular motion of material con- 
verted in a mechanical way to a con- 
tinuous motion of material. Work 
is simply power or continuous motion 
of material being changed into molec- 
ular motion or heat. 

When we have energy in the shape 
of power, we shift it around through 
our various machines. We cause 
it to weave, to spin and to grind. 
At each point of operation, heat 
or molecular motion is created, and 
the power is gone, to be ours no 
more. It simply rejoins in the battles 
of the contending forces. 

Man finds force in a crystallized or 

static condition, as in coal or fuel. 

He releases it by starting it to vibrate 

so rapidly that the carbon can unite 

53 



with the oxygen of the air (or burn, as 
we commonly say), and his steam 
engine is nothing more than a machine 
that converts molecular motion or 
heat into continuous motion or power. 

Continuous motion or power is an 
unnatural motion ; hence, all contin- 
uous motion sooner or later reverts to 
its original form — molecular motion 
or heat. All the wonderful things 
in mechanics, and we may say phys- 
ics, are performed by motion in a 
continuous form reverting to motion 
in a molecular form, or vice versa. 
Continuous motion can not be main- 
tained without a continuous source of 
supply ; but molecular motion never 
ceases. 

Perpetual motion, then, can only 
exist when some never-failing fount- 
ain of supply can be tapped. The 
forces that revolve the earth on its 
axis might be utilized for turning 
machinery, but, in such an event, the 
days and nights would become louger 
and the climate would be warmer for 

54 



a time in consequence of the extra 
amount of continuous motion of the 
earth being converted into heat or 
molecular motion. 

We have dwelt at some length on 
motion in the form of power and 
heat, but we wish to take up water 
power and make it clearly under- 
stood. We wish to show that water 
power is the cheapest source of 
energy, why and how it can be used to 
perform our labors and supply us 
light and heat at any and all places 
that we may desire them. 



55 



CHAPTER XIII. 



WATER POWER. 

Water power, so called in ordinary 
conversation, is power derived from 
gravity, hence is gravity power. 

It is well known that a head or 
vertical column of water will at its 
lower level exert a pressure in direct 
ratio to its height. This pressure is 
the effect of the force— gravity — and 
will cause the water to spout through 
an opening at a velocity equal to the 
same velocity that a body of the same 
specific gravity would acquire if it 
had fallen a distance equal to the 
height of the head. 

Hence, to determine the spouting 
velocity of a water fall or head, the 
engineer employs the "law of falling 
bodies/' It is always necessary to 
know the spouting velocity of water, 

56 



because gravity exerts all its force in 
spouting water and has found its 
equilibrium in doing so. 

The problem for man now is to 
devise a machine that will stop the 
water that gravity has spent its force 
upon, and thereby collect the power 
that has been generated by giving 
motion to the water. Such a machine 
is called a water-wheel. The steam 
engine converts the molecular motion 
of the steam into continuous motion 
or power, but the water engine trans- 
fers the continuous motion of the 
water to the shafting, hence is the 
simplest in operation. 

Reasoning from the facts that the 
spouting velocity of a constant head 
is always the same, and that the 
wheel gets its power by stopping the 
water that gravity has put in motion, 
it follows that there can be only one 
correct speed at which the wheel can 
get the highest amount of power 
from the water. That is, the ratio of 
wheel-speed to water-speed must 

57 



always be maintained, or a decrease 
of efficiency will occur, which will be 
detrimental to both power and its 
government. This ratio varies in the 
different wheels, owing to the differ- 
ence in principles involved, or differ- 
ence in construction. 

It will be noticed, however, that 
water-power can only be found in the 
moving water, and when it is found 
in the revolving shafting, it is water- 
power no more — simply power. The 
source of supply may be called water- 
power, but, if we trace it back to first 
principles, we find the source of this 
energy back in the molecular motion 
or heat of mateiial. 

The real source of this, as well as 
that of all other mechanical energy, 
is in the sun. The heat caused in 
material, in consequence of its inter- 
cepting the sun's light or energy, 
shakes, as it were, water into such 
exceedingly small particles that they 
fill the small spaces between the 
molecules of the air. 

58 



The sun's energy creates the great- 
est molecular motion in the most 
dense materials. Hence the solid 
substance of the earth's surface be- 
comes more heated than the air. 
These, in imparting their vibration 
to the surrounding air molecules 
that hold in suspension the water 
particles, cause the air molecules to 
become lighter or less attracted by 
gravity. The heavier and cooler air 
molecules are drawn under them by 
gravity, wedging them up, as it were, 
away from the earth's surface. The 
air pressures and the vacua, brought 
about by the unequal heating of 
the surface of the earth, cause 
these freighted molecules of air to 
move. 

If this water-laden air were never 
brought under the action of other 
forces, it would forever retain its 
moisture. But by some sudden 
change in temperature, and thereby 
in pressure, it is forced to release its 
load, which again, through the action 

59 



of gravity, falls in the shape of rain 
to the surface of the earth, giving 
back the same amount of heat that 
was required to expand and elevate 
it. Each molecule of water will con- 
tinue its motion according to the 
effects of gravity, until it can find a 
support or rest, or, as we commonly 
say, its level ; giving out energy in 
the form of power or heat until its 
descent ceases. 

The molecule of water, then, is 
simply an agent in the hands or in- 
fluence of the warring forces of 
nature ; and when the force gravity 
has the better of it, and is convert- 
ing its motion or power into heat, 
man steps in with his water-wheel 
and requires gravity to perform labor 
or work, before he will release its 
slaves, the water molecules; and the 
extreme amount of work that can be 
had from the molecules of water is 
equal to the amount of energy that 
was required to lift it to the height 
of the head, after subtracting the 

60 



various losses incurred through the 
operations of its descent. 

The spouting velocity of water, due 
to any head, may be found by multi- 
plying the square root of the head 
in feet by 8.025, or one-fourth (%) 
the velocity a body will acquire in 
falling one second. This product 
will be feet per second. Example: 
What is the spouting velocity of a 
16-foot head ? The square root of 
16 is 4, and 4 multiplied by 8.025 
equals 32.1 feet per second. The 
velocity per minute equals 32.1 multi- 
plied by 60, or 1,926 feet. 

To determine the actual power 
represented by a waterfall, we multi- 
ply the head or fall in feet by the 
number of cubic feet flow per minute. 
Multiply this product by 62.5 and the 
product will be foot-pounds. If we 
divide this product by 33,000 our 
quotient will be the maximum horse- 
power. Subtract from this quantity 
the loss in carrying the water to the 
wheel and the loss in the wheel, and 

61 



the remainder can be relied upon as 
power for other purposes. 

Example: How much power can 
be obtained from a IB-foot head 
having a flow of 6,825 cubic feet 
per minute ? Answer : 16 mul- 
tiplied by 6,825 equals 109.200. 
This product multiplied by 62.5 
equals 6,825,000 foot-pounds. Di- 
viding by 33,000 we have 206.8 gross 
horse-power. If we count 20 per 
cent loss in the wheel and five per 
cent loss in getting the water to the 
wheel, we can count on 75 per cent 
available power. Seventy-five per 
cent of 206.8 equals 155.1 net horse- 
power. 



62 



CHAPTER XIV. 



WATER-WHEELS. 

The simplest way to define water- 
power is to state that it is energy 
from the force gravity applied in 
giving continuous motion to material 
by means of or through the liquid 
medium, water. 

Four distinct principles have been 
and are employed to take power from 
gravity by means of water. 

1. By using the pressure and keep- 
ing the water confined. The same 
principle as is used in the steam en- 
gine. 

2. By the direct action of gravity, 
as in the overshot wheel. 

3. By impact or stopping the water 
that gravity has already put in motion. 

4. By pressure or reaction, as ex- 
hibited in the Barker mill. 

63 



















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64 



The first and second principles 
mentioned are practically obsolete, 
but from the third and fourth prin- 
ciples there are now being manu- 
factured three distinct types of water- 
wheels, and many variations of each 
type. 

We will here introduce some gen- 
eral curves that are intended to give 
the reader an idea of the relative 
velocity that various water-wheels 
should run. Note carefully that the 
horizontal distances represent veloc- 
ity and that the vertical distances 
represent power. If these general 
curves are carefully examiued, a fair 
idea can be had of the loss in effi- 
ciency of a water-wheel, due to run- 
ning too fast or too slow. 

In the following curves, it will be 
observed that the spouting velocity of 
the head is represented by 100 on 
the horizontal lines, and any increase 
or decrease will be considered as a 
like percentage of the spouting 
velocity. For example, 150 equals 
65 

(5) 



150 per cent, or one and one-half 
times the spouting velocity of the 
water, and 66}i equals 66^3 per cent, 
or two-thirds of the spouting velocity 
of the water. In the vertical line the 
maximum power a wheel can give is 
represented by 100, and any number 
less is a like percentage of the full 
power. For example, 50 equals 50 per 
cent, or one-half of the full power of 
the wheel. 

Please note that the curve is based 
on the supposition that the water- 
wheel gates are wide open in each 
case, also note that the curve is general 
and may vary with the modifications 
of the wheel in question. 

To determine the approximate 
efficiency of a water-wheel running 
at a given — say, 40 per cent - relative 
speed, place your pencil on 40 in the 
horizontal line of diagram pertaining 
to the kind of wheel in question and 
follow vertically until touching the 
curve; from this point move pencil 
in a horizontal direction until it 

66 



touches the side of diagram, where 
the power figures are, then note per- 
centage of power. In this way the 
percentage of power can be deter- 
mined in any speed the wheel may 
attain from standing, or zero, to its 
highest speed. 

The highest relative velocity a 
wheel may run if not impeded by 
work can also be determined by 
noting where the curve ends. For 
example, see the impact curve. In 
this it will be noticed that the curve 
ends in the diagram at 100. This 
indicates that the wheel running 
empty with full head of water can 
run just as fast as the water moves. 
Please note that in speaking of the 
velocity of a water-wheel we refer 
to its circumference or periphery 
speed. 

Note that speed of highest efficiency 
in the impact or impulse wheel is 50 
per cent of the spouting velocity of 
the water. In actual practice it is 
about 45 per cent of the theoretic 

67 



m 



4 



::: 



£ 



5 



i 



■B 



K- 



ztr. 



spouting velocity of the head that 
drives it. 

The reaction principle of getting 
power from water is seldom used in its 
simplest form, but, as combined with 
the " impulse" in the turbine, it is a 
most important factor in power get- 
ting. The amount of power that can 
be had from a wheel of this character 
can be found by finding the amount 
of pressure on the inside of wheel at 
orifice, after the outside pressure at 
orifice is subtracted. This difference 
in pressure (in pounds per square 
inch) must be multiplied by the area 
of orifice in square inches, and this 
product multiplied by the velocity 
(of the wheel at orifice) in feet per 
minute will give the foot-pounds of 
power. After the loss due to friction 
is subtracted the balance is available 
power. 

Please note that the theoretic speed 
of this principle of wheel is a velocity 
equal to that due to the head driving it. 

The turbine wheel is a combination 
69 



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70 



of the two foregoing principles, and 
its theoretic speed is less than 
that of the reaction wheel. This 
class of wheel in its actual con- 
struction is an impulse wheel at 
the beginning of gate opening, and a 
reaction wheel at full gate opening. 
To give its highest efficiency at all 
points of gate opening, its speed 
should be that of an impulse wheel at 
the beginning of gate opening, and 
increase with gate opening, approx- 
imating the speed of the reaction 
wheel at full gate opening. Since it 
is impractical to run machinery at 
variable speeds, the turbine manu- 
facturer gives it a conventional speed ; 
that is, a speed that he considers is 
the best average, usually a speed of 
from three-quarters to seven-eighths 
gate opening. 

Please note the difference in the 
speeds of the three classes of wheels. 
The curves are based on the sup- 
position that the three wheels are 
of equal horse-power and are driven 

71 



i O ZO 40 60 



m 



±W2^, 



W& 



m 



^m 



g 



"m 



i— 



m 



i II " I I I i ' I I I I : IM ' ' 



ELECTRICAL REVIEW, N Y' 



Fig. 4.— Comparison of Curves. 

72 



by the same head. The limits of 
speed of impulse wheel and turbine 
wheel are shown on the diagram, 
but the limit of the speed of a pure 
reaction wheel is determined only 
by the friction of wheel in revolving, 
or some load. It is also checked by 
the centrifugal power applied to the 
water that is passing through it, 
hence it may attain (without a load) 
a speed equal to several times that 
of the spouting velocity of the head 
that drives it. 

These curves are made to assist 
the engineer having water-wheels in 
charge. They are the result of care- 
ful experience in running and govern- 
ing water-power plants. 



CHAPTER XV 



GOVERNMENT OF WATER-POWER. 

It has been clearly demonstrated 
that water falls can turn dynamos. 
Scores of water falls are already har- 
nessed, but this class of work is yet 
only in its infancy. To govern the 
wheels automatically and safely is a 
problem of grave proportions. 

Water-power has been known and 
used longer than any other kind of 
power, but it is not so clearly under- 
stood to the masses as steam-power. 
This may be due to the fact that 
it has not played so important a part 
as steam in the affairs of commerce, 
and the reason is, it has to be devel- 
oped where nature designed for it, 
while steam power is more flexible, 
and can be placed on the top of a 
mountain as well as at its base. 

74 



One of the great things to be de- 
sired in power for dynamos is regu- 
larity of speed, and it should be 
maintained under the varying con- 
ditions of load. Much time has been 
spent in devising machinery for this 
kind of work, and, while much has 
been learned, there are still some 
intricate problems to be solved. It 
might be said, also, that the matter 
of plant construction is in a state 
of evolution, and it is hoped that 
it will result in the development of 
ideas that will make water-power 
development more simple and effi- 
cient both in power and government. 

The fundamental principle that 
makes water hard to govern is well 
known. A body at rest requires 
force to put it in motion ; it requires 
more force to increase its motion, 
and if brought to rest again will 
give out as much energy as was ab- 
sorbed to give it its maximum motion. 
The loss due to friction must always 
be subtracted. 

75 



The above operation is precisely 
what takes place in getting power 
from water. The water in the reser- 
voir is material at rest. It has a 
slow motion in the flume or penstock; 
at the guides or nozzles, where it 
comes in contact with the wheels, 
it has attained a velocity approxi- 
mating the spouting velocity of the 
head. At this point it represents 
the full amount of power that gravity 
can supply it with. In other words, 
the force, gravity, has established an 
equilibrium in giving motion to the 
medium, water. 

The duty of the wheel is to bring 
the water to a state of rest, and in 
doing so it received the amount of 
energy that gravity expended in giv- 
ing it motion. Practically the water 
must have some motion to carry it 
away from the wheel, and such motion 
of water is a loss of power. 

Consideration will teach any one 
that if gravity is applying all its 
energy at one point of operation it 

76 



can not at the same time apply it at 
some other point; hence, if water 
is incased in wooden or iron flumes, 
the whole body must move when an 
increased quantity is required at the 
nozzles. The increased motion must 
come from the action of gravity on 
the equivalent vertical head, and since 
the effect of gravity is constant, it is 
plain that, if the power is absorbed 
in giving motion to water in the 
flume, it can not at the same time 
keep the same supply at the water- 
wheel. 

The loss of time when power is 
required for heavy changes in load 
makes water exceedingly hard to 
govern, and has given an opportunity 
for a few specialists m this kind of 
work. They have gradually over- 
come difficulties and improved the 
construction and adaptation of gov- 
ernors until it is possible to get 
governors that rank favorably with 
steam. It is always advisable to take 
the matter of regulation of water- 

77 



wheels into consideration before a 
power plant is constructed, as many 
plants have been deprived of the 
best government by neglecting the 
matter until it was too late. 

When large plants are constructed 
for commercial currents, the matter 
of government is more important 
than in private plants, and, since the 
tendency is to build direct-connected 
plants, it is highly important that the 
regulation be directed by reliable 
parties, expert in this line. Since 
there is less power wasted in a direct- 
connected plants, it is correspondingly 
harder to govern. 

There have been some very impor- 
tant discoveries made in the line of 
water-wheel regulation in the past 
two years. It can be said that the 
subject has received more earnest 
attention, and that it has improved 
more in the last two years than in 
any one century previous. All this 
is due to the fact that power can now 
be transmitted electrically from the 

78 



water fall to the very heart of a 
thriving city, giving to various indus- 
tries cheaper power than steam, and 
returning to the promoter and capi- 
talist substantial revenues on their 
investments. 



79 



CHAPTER XVI. 



DEVELOPMENT OF WATER-POWEK. 

The development of water-power 
has received a new impetus since it 
has been demonstrated that it can be 
transmitted electrically. The ideal 
way of the past was to carry the 
water from the falls or dam by means 
of a systematic series of canals. 
These were often arranged in a man- 
ner that would permit power to be 
distributed over a large area of fac- 
tory sites. 

Where a reasonably high head could 
be procured, the canals would have 
different levels. That is, the facto- 
ries of one canal would discharge the 
used water into a lower canal. This 
canal served as head water for 
another series of factories, and so 
on until the lower level was reached. 

80 



The water power of Holyoke, Mass., 
Cohoes, N. Y., and Paterson, N. J., 
are good examples of this kind of 
development. 

The objections to this plan of de- 
velopment are many, and we will 
enumerate a few of the most promi- 
nent ones : Cost of excavating canals 
as well as the cost of the land they 
occupy ; cost of a multitude of wheel 
pits, wheels and power plants ; the 
loss of the power necessary to carry 
the water through the long canals 
and penstocks, and the loss of the 
power necessary to turn an innumer- 
able number of wheels and line shafts. 

The ideal way of the present is to 
build at the water fall one power 
house, occupying very little land, one 
wheel pit and a few wheels — just 
enough to divide the power into 
economical units of distribution. 
The plant is further simplified by 
building wheels aud dynamos to fit 
the water fall and adapted to each 
other; or, if other methods of trans- 

81 

(6) 



mission are employed, a similar sim- 
plicity of development should be 
followed. 

To get the best results in this kind 
of development, our leading water- 
wheel manufacturers should be con- 
sulted, also our leading dynamo 
builders or electric companies. They 
are fully alive to the requirements of 
this kind of development and have 
specialists for this class of work. 
The dynamo builder and the water- 
wheel builder should consult the 
specialist who constructs machinery 
to govern water-power, and he must 
build a governor to fit the dynamo, 
water-wheel, and water fall. It will 
require the three to make a perfect 
plant, and those having the most 
varied experience are often the most 
economical and reliable parties to 
employ. 



82 



CHAPTER XVII. 



POWER TRANSMISSION. 

The ordinary methods of trans- 
mission, such as by shafting, belting 
and cable, are so well known that we 
will not comment, except to say that 
they waste too much power for long- 
distance transmission : hence are not 
considered when the distant water 
fall is to be harnessed. There are, 
however, two kinds of transmission 
that are receiving the attention of our 
engineers — pneumatic, or air trans- 
mission, and electrical transmission. 

Pneumatic transmission is purely 
mechanical, but offers some economi- 
cal advantages that even electricity 
does not offer. There are conditions 
where this method could be employed 
with greater efficiency than electric 
currents. In cases where factories 



are run by steam power the energy 
could be conducted from the water 
power in air mains, from which the 
engines could be supplied, saving to 
the factory the cost of motors and 
the other necessary changes. 

If the supply of air was in any way 
limited, it could be allowed to pass 
through the engine boilers and ex- 
panded with fuel. We are told that 
fully 70 per cent useful effect can be 
had from fuel in this way, as com- 
pared with steam power, which limits 
the useful effects to less than 15 per 
cent of the energy that the fuel con- 
tains. There is, however, a great 
loss in compressing air and trans- 
mitting it, giving to electrical trans- 
mission an advantage, especially in 
long-distance transmission. 

The success of long-distance elec- 
trical transmission is being demon- 
strated in various parts of the 
civilized world. A government ex- 
periment in Germany demonstrated 
that 200 horse-power could be trans- 

84 



mitted 109 miles with a loss of only 
28 per cent. This is less than that 
sustained by many of our finest facto- 
ries in transmitting power mechani- 
cally to remote rooms. The experi- 
ment at Niagara has demonstrated 
that power can be taken from water 
in large and economical units, and it 
will be demonstrated that the same 
power can be transmitted to Buffalo 
and sold with profit for less than 
steam power costs. 

Electrical transmission is of three 
kinds, and may be called continuous- 
current transmission, alternating-cur- 
rent transmission and polyphase- 
current transmission. They have 
been developed in the order named. 
All our street-railway systems are 
using the continuous current for 
driving their motors, and the pressure 
used is about 500 volts. A higher 
pressure would be more economical 
as far as saving power is concerned, 
but would be more dangerous to life 
and to machinery ; hence 500 volts 

85 



is about the limit of the pressure 
used in commercial work where con- 
tinuous currents are employed . There 
are some exceptions to this. 

Alternating-current transmission is 
yet in its iufancy. While it has the 
advantage of allowing high pressure 
in the primary transmitting wires, 
which can be transformed to safe 
pressure in buildings and at points of 
consumption, yet, for power trans- 
mission, it is not considered the best, 
on account of the necessity of the 
motor being or running at all times 
in synchronism. Sudden changes in 
load or overload may affect its speed 
and cause trouble. It is also trouble- 
some to start a synchronous motor. 
Alternating currents are often used 
to good advantage in power work by 
being made continuous with a rotary 
transformer. These currents are used 
to best advantage in lighting. 

Polyphase currents, in reality, are 
compound alternating current. They 
offer great advantage in power trans- 



mission. By their use the electrician 
can use a motor of high efficiency, 
that does not need to run in syn- 
chronism. 

No sliding or revolving contacts 
are required. The current required 
in the armature is an induced cur- 
rent, and has no metallic connec- 
tion with the external currents. On 
this account such motors are called 
"induction motors." Polyphase cur- 
rents admit of a circuitous change of 
polarity in the field magnets of the 
driven motor, making it possible for 
it to start itself with a small load. 
These currents have the advantage of 
transformation. Polyphase currents, 
induction motors and rotary trans- 
formers, without doubt, are the best 
avenues through which we can bring 
our water powers to manufacturing 
and trade centers. 

Since electrical power is better 
adapted to speed and haulage than 
steam, we can expect in the future to 
see our great railroad lines operated 

87 



by the now valueless water powers in 
the country. 

The agent that makes it possible 
to use the energy of the distant 
water falls is that quiet looking en- 
gine we call the dynamo. Without it, 
electricity could be of little value to 
humanity. By its mysterious powers 
we are enabled to harness the mount- 
ain torrent and distribute its energy 
in our dwellings and factories. The 
sunlight absorbed to carry the water 
to the hills and peaks is returned to 
us as an article of commerce. 

When the dynamo is dissected it 
proves to be nothing more than a 
pump that can put in motion that 
unseen something we call the electric 
fluid, and any loss of energy through 
it is due to friction; that is, electrical 
friction, as the mechanical friction is 
a very small ratio of the power ap- 
plied to it. This will be evident 
when we state that it is not un- 
common for a dynamo to convert 
into electrical energy 95 per cent 



of the mechanical energy applied 
to it. 

The further energy that is lost in 
transmission is due to the friction of 
the current passing through the 
transmitting wires, hence is lost in 
heat. The electrical engineer re- 
duces the total loss by putting his 
transmitting current under high ten- 
sion or pressure, thereby reducing 
the quantity of current that must 
flow. The polyphase system of 
transmission enables us to convert 
electrical energy into higher or lower 
tensions to suit our particular needs, 
and for its discovery and outline we 
are indebtel to that fearless and 
intellectual son of Servia, Nikola 
Tesla. 



89 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



SUGGESTIONS. 

There is no form of energy that is 
so far-reaching in its benefits to the 
welfare and comfort of the world as 
electrical energy. 

There is no force or means so 
plentiful in a static condition as 
electricity. 

There is no kind of power that can 
be so absolutely controlled by a con- 
sumer as electrical power. 

There is no source of energy so 
easy of access or so richly provided 
as water power. 

There is no form of motion that is 
more perpetual than a water fall. 

There is no machine that depre- 
ciates so little for the amount of 
work it performs as the dynamo. 

There is no medium of trans- 

90 



mission so little wasted by trans- 
mitting power as a wire. 

There is no form of investment 
more certain of continual returns 
than an intelligent development of 
electrical water-power plants. 

There is no reason for delaying 
the use of our water falls, except 
that our investors do not as yet fully 
appreciate their importance. 

We have attempted to tell a few 
of the facts concerning electricity 
and water power, and have endeavored 
to put them in a form that will allow 
of their being grasped by those who* 
can not spend the time necessary to 
study these subjects in a technical 
way. We have entered very little 
into detail, and only on points that 
we deemed necessary. 

The harnessing together of elec- 
tricity and water power is of special 
interest to many. The proposition 
is so far-reaching that it excites the 
curiosity and admiration of all. 

There are water falls enough to 

91 



turn all the machinery required for 
the comforts of mankind for centuries 
to come, and, unlike other sources of 
energy, they are exhaustless. 

By the union of electricity and 
water power our great and now smoky 
manufacturing cities can be made 
models of comfort and cleanliness. 

By the combination of these two 
forces, the locomotive with its soot 
and cinder can be hushed and side- 
tracked. 

By the adoption of these sources 
of energy and heat oar great blast 
furnaces and smelting works may 
become odorless and clean. 

By the linking together of these 
two most bountiful gifts of Nature, 
the labors of all the world may be 
lightened and the comforts of all its 
inhabitants increased. 

The recent rapid development 
in useful applications of electrical 
science has opened up a wide field 
of possibilities, and, what a few years 
ago would have been thought utterly 

92 



visionary, men now are ready to look 
upon as only a question of time, sure 
to be attained in the end. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



REPRESENTATIVE ELECTRICAL- WATER- 
POWER PLANTS. 

When the foregoing papers were 
being prepared it had not oc- 
curred to the writer to add the fol- 
lowing somewhat general descriptions 
of the representative electric-water- 
power plants of the United States. 
This idea was suggested by the pub- 
lishers of the Electrical Review, 
and it has been indorsed by so many 
friends of water-power development 
that the writer has decided to add 
such synopses of the noteworthy 
propositions as he can obtain in the 
limited time before final publication. 

For these general facts concerning 
the following advancements in this 
new science the writer is indebted 
to the leading spirits in the various 
enterprises — men who have grappled 
the new problems with a spirit of 

94 



achievement, such as has been mani- 
fested only in this electrical age. 

THE FKESXO ELECTRIC-WATER-POWER 
PLAXT. 

The latest and most unique power 
plant that has come to public notice 
is that of the San Joaquin Electric 
Company, at Fresno, California. 
Fresno is a city of the plains, being 
the center of a rich fruit-growing 
section of the Golden State. Its 
fertility depends greatly on the water 
carried from the Sierra Nevadas by 
the irrigating ditches. The town, 
being distant from wood or coal sup- 
plies, offers a favorable field for the 
cheap power and light that can be 
had from the mountain streams, 40 
miles distant. 

The San Joaquin company was 
organized early in 1895. They had 
completed in June, 1S96, one of the 
most daring feats in the transmission 
of energy that has been recorded. 
Away up in the head waters of the 

95 



San Joaquin River, at a point about 
60 miles south of the Yosemite Val- 
ley, two mountain torrents meet 
and form the north fork of the river. 
By a shrewd application of engineer- 
ing, both of these streams are tapped 
by wooden flumes iu such a manner 
that the supply of water can be had 
from either or both of them. The 
flumes empty into a ditch which takes 
a southerly direction at an easy grade 
for seven miles, where it empties into 
a reservoir on the top of a mountain 
spur, some 1,400 feet above the river 
level. From this reservoir a steel 
pipe 20 inches in diameter leads 
directly over the brow of the mount- 
ain, almost perpendicularly into the 
gorge below. The pipe at the top is 
about one-eighth of an inch thick, 
and increases in thickness as it de- 
scends to the receiver, which is made 
of three-quarter-inch boiler steel, and 
is firmly anchored to the granite 
foundations of the power house. 
The power house is built on a solid 

96 



granite bluff about 40 feet above low- 
water mark in the river, and is con- 
structed of cut granite. It contains 
sp$ce for four 500-horse-power water 
wheels of the impact type, and two 
exciter wheels of about 20 horse- 
power each. Each of the above 
wheels drives a direct-connected mul- 
tipolar generator. The four large 
generators are of the Tesla polyphase 
type, and generate at a pressure of 
700 volts, w T ith a capacity of 340 
kilowatts each. Step-up transformers 
raise the pressure to 11,000 volts, and 
the energy of the mountain stream is 
carried 34.4 miles over the well con- 
structed pole line to Fresno, on the 
plains below. By the use of step- 
down transformers at Fresno, the 
current is converted to pressures 
necessary for the different uses to 
which it is applied, the pressures 
ranging from 115 volts to 3,000 volts. 
This daring feat in hydraulics 
brought to light some features that 
are of more than ordinary interest. 

97 

(?) 



The gauge shows a static pressure of 
about 610 pounds per square inch at 
the lower level of the pipe line. 
A sudden stopping in the water flow, 
on one occasion, raised the hand on 
the pressure gauge to the astounding 
height of 1,000 pounds per square 
inch, and the pressure returned to 
nearly a like distance below 610, and 
kept up a reverberating for over 30 
seconds. The great pipe writhed like 
a huge serpent, and the commotion 
in the interior sounded like the firing 
of distant cannon. The great strength 
and elasticity of the steel are the only 
safeguards in such sudden changes of 
flow. The water is applied to the 
Pelton wheels by the use of deflecting 
nozzles. A stream of water from one 
of these will bore a hole through a 
three-inch plank in a few minutes; 
it will tear a, hole through a three- 
eighths-inch piece of steel in a few 
days; concrete melts before it like 
sugar. The only successful mode, 
up to the present, of safely stopping 

98 



the motion of the water from the 
nozzle is to put a heavy cast-iron plate 
in the tail-race in such a manner that 
it can be quickly replaced when worn 
out. 

The general plans admit of the 
power house being duplicated when 
Fresno and vicinity require additional 
power. 

This unique plant is a success in 
all its details, and is a forerunner of 
hundreds that will be made on similar 
lines. It can at present deliver into 
Fresno nearly 2,000 horse-power of 
energy. 

THE NIAGARA FALLS HYDRAULIC 
POWER AND MANUFACTUR- 
ING COMPANY., 

The great work at Niagara Falls 
that is being prosecuted by the 
Niagara Falls Power Company has 
attracted so much attention during 
the past five years, that many people 
think Niagara was harnessed for the 




100 



first time when their great wheels 
began to turn. 

The above great proposition will be 
treated later in these papers, but the 
present paper will be devoted to a great 
power that has developed so quietly 
that it has almost escaped public 
notice. 

As early as 1725, Niagara power 
was used by the French for sawing 
logs. From 1800 to 1825 some four 
or five mills were operated at various 
points along the river. About the 
year 1850, a plan was laid to make a 
canal from a point about one mile 
above the Falls on the American 
side, to the high bank of the river 
below the Falls; and from the latter 
place it was intended to run the 
water through wheels into the chasm 
below. After the many reverses and 
discouragements, always met with by 
the promoters of so wild a scheme, 
the canal was finally finished in the 
year 1861. 

The War of the Rebellion evidently 

101 



had much to do in cooling the ardor 
of its leading spirits, as we find no 
further progress until 1870, when the 
first grist mill was built and operated 
from the canal. In 1877, the 
Niagara Palls Hydraulic Power and 
Manufacturing Company was formed, 
into whose hands the canal and all 
its belongings fell, and since that 
date there has been a steady increase 
in mills of all kinds. The canal 
to-day is furnishing over 10,000 
horse-power of energy, and when 
improved to its full extent can 
furnish over 100,000 horse-power. 

The most interesting part of this 
great power is the study it has afforded 
to the student in hydraulics. We first 
find the "current wheel," followed 
by the^" undershot " and "flutter 
wheel;" next the early and crude 
forms of " turbines." Later the tur- 
bine was used under heads of 50 to 60 
feet, and this was thought to be the 
extreme height of head to which a 
turbine could be subjected. 

102 



Each new proposition dipped 
deeper and deeper into the rocky 
chasm with its tail-race, untii 1895, 
when the daring engineer now in 
charge, decided to use the full fall of 
210 feet. There is now nearly com- 
pleted a power plant worthy of more 
than ordinary notice. When finished 
it can furnish from its generators 
about 40,000 horse power of electrical 
energy. A special type of horizontal 
turbine is used, and each wheel is 
connected to two generators, one at 
either side of wheel, and attached to 
same shaft. Each wheel with its two 
generators furnishes about 2,000 elec- 
trical horse power, and comprises a 
unit of the plant's power. There will 
be 20 of such units when the power 
house is complete. 

The above company has experi- 
enced a gradual development in the 
line of transmitting power electri- 
cally. We find first some old dynamos 
in a mill cellar, later a loft was built 
for a city lighting plant, next, a 

103 



power generator was installed and 
electric power sold to various manu- 
facturers. Following this was a new 
plant in which was installed the latest 
and best lighting machinery. Now 
comes the mammoth plant just men- 
tioned, in which the full height of 
the fall is utilized. The wheels and 
dynamos are placed at the lower river 
level, and the energy will be carried 
on wires to the city above and distrib- 
uted to the many users of this cheap 
and reliable power. 

The Pittsburgh Reduction Company 
have built a large aluminum smelting 
plant on the bank above the power 
house, and will use a great quantity 
of the new power in supplying civili- 
zation with this new and valuable 
metal. -^ 

The growth of this remarkable 
water power has been gradual but 
sure. Some of the traces are still to 
be seen of the steps taken by this 
energetic company as they felt their 
way up to the present modern and 

104 



magnificent power plant, but the 
Niagara Falls Power Company^ plant, 
which is the result of all past experi- 
ence, was brought before the public so 
suddenly and so forcibly that many 
failed to learn what the silent workers 
were doing. 

THE FOLSOM, CAL., POWER A]STD 
TRANSMISSIOX. 

Of the recent demonstrations of 
long-distance transmission , none stand 
out more boldly, or have attracted 
such world-wide attention, as the 
development at Folsom, Cal., by the 
Folsom Water Power Company and 
the Sacramento Electric Power and 
Light Company. 

There are various reasons for this 
interest. The nr^t and greatest, 
perhaps, is that it was the first 
attempt to transmit great quantities 
of power electrically to so great a 
distance in the western hemisphere ; 
second, the work from beginning to 
end is American. While the Niagara 
Falls Power Company were investigat- 

105 



ing the work of European engineers 
and incorporating their ideas into the 
great plans adopted, theFolsom plant 
was steadily and surely being crowded 
to completion by native Americaus. 
Another causeof interest is its locality. 
The great coal fields that help to 
enrich the eastern and middle sec- 
tions of our country are wanting on 
the Pacific coast, but the mental 
energy that causes nature to con- 
tribute to the welfare and happiness 
of mankind is not wanting. The 
spirit of turning promptly into 
account the lessons so recently taught 
us by science, is so marked in this 
great transmission, that its success 
stands out a new and blazing star in 
the glory that crowns the already 
famous Golden State. 

A most singular coincidence, too, 
is that this great power plant is 
located only a few miles from the spot 
that produced the first gold in Cali- 
fornia. The whole world was elec- 
trified by the developments in the 

106 



American River valley in "49." In 
" 94" a great work was nearing com- 
pletion that was soon to electrify the 
scientific world with positive demon- 
stration that 4,000 horse-power can be 
carried 22 miles as a profitable invest- 
ment to the promoters of such a pro- 
ject, as w r ell as to the patrons of the 
power and light furnished. 

The power house is situated at 
Folsom City, 22 miles Xorth and 
East of Sacramento, the capital of 
the State. The American River is a 
tributary of the Sacramento River, 
and its many sources are high in the 
Sierra Nevada Mountains. Folsom is 
situated at a point where the river 
finds the level lowlands, and is the 
remains of a once flourishing mining 
town. Its great areas of washed sur- 
face, and its tumbled-down appear- 
ance, are the only indices to its former 
greatness. The surface of the low- 
lands is composed of a tough red and 
gravelly till, but the foundation rock 
is a good quality of gray granite. 

107 



About two miles up the rocky 
gorge from Folsom, at the head of a 
series of rapids, the great plant gets 
water from the river. At this point 
is constructed one of the finest granite 
dams in America. The head-works 
are constructed of cut granite and are 
equipped with hydraulically moved 
gates. From here a great canal is 
cut through the granite bluff's nearly 
2,000 feet to the State prison power 
house. At this point about 800 horse- 
power is used for manufacturing, and 
in the various operations pertaining 
to the quarrying and handling of the 
fine cut granite produced by the 
State in its prison works. 

This canal is extended to Folsom 
City, one and one-half miles below 
the prison, to a high bluff situated 
between the town and river. On this 
bluff is constructed a double forebay, 
and each basin is tapped by two of 
the great penstocks that carry water 
to the four pairs of horizontal tur- 
bines below. Each penstock is pro- 

108 



vided with a hydraulically moved 
gate. 

The power house is two stories high 
and is substantially built of brick. 
It contains four units of power, 
duplicates of each other. Each unit 
consists of a pair of specially built 
horizontal turbines that furnish 1,260 
horse-power under 55 feet head. The 
turbine shaft is connected directly to 
a 1,000 horse-power three-phase gen- 
erator, that furnishes to the step-up 
transformers a current of 800-volts 
pressure. The turbines make 300 
revolutions per minute, and have con- 
nected at the opposite end from the 
dynamos a 15,000-pound flywheel, 
to aid in their government. 

There are, besides the four 750- 
kilowatt generators, two 500-volt 
exciters. These are driven by two 
smaller turbines. The six dynamos 
occupy the first story of the power 
house, where is also found the 
switchboard. The turbines are in 
a wheel house beside the dynamo 

109 



room, and their great shafts extend 
through the brick walls. 

The second story of the power 
house contains the 12 step-up trans- 
formers that receive the 800-volt cur- 
rent and transform it to a current of 
11,000 volts, ready for transmission. 
There are also two rotary blowers to 
keep the transformers cool when 
heavily loaded. 

Two well-constructed pole lines 
carry this high-tension current to the 
sub-station in Sacramento, 22 miles 
distant, where it is again transformed 
by the step down process to the 
various pressures convenient for the 
work to be done. 

The sub-station is a very substantial 
and neat brick building located on 
the corner of Sixth and H streets. 
It contains three large synchronous 
motors that receive current at 500- 
volts pressure from the transformers 
in the second story. These motors 
drive the street railway generators 
that furnish power for all the street 

110 



cars in the city. They also drive the 
great arc dynamos that furnish light 
for the streets. The three mentioned 
motors can all be connected to one 
drive shaft, from which all the dyna- 
mos can be driven. 

The incandescent lighting current 
leaves the transformers at a pressure 
of 125 volts, on a four-wire system, 
to all parts of the city. Three wires 
are for the three-phase current, and 
the fourth is a neutral wire. 

Pow T er can go directly from the 
transformers to synchronous and in- 
duction motors, or it can be furnished 
from the street railway generators. 
The sub-station contains the offices of 
the company, and with the exception 
of the wires overhead, it has the 
appearance of a neatly designed busi- 
ness block. (A vast improvement 
over ordinary electric stations.) 

This great plant started up on July 
14, 1895, and has been running night 
and day ever since. It has demon- 
strated that great quantities of power 

111 



can be carried great distances ; it has 
demonstrated that communities lack- 
ing natural fuel may still be rich in 
power, and it has demonstrated that 
Americans can build great electrical 
power plants, and adapt themselves 
to the conditions that nature provides. 
The water supply at Folsom is 
sufficient for several more such power 
stations when they are demanded. 

POWER AT THE FALLS OF THE WILLAM- 
ETTE, OREGON CITY, OREGON. 

The Willamette River drains the 
most populous valley in Oregon. The 
valley extends in a northerly direction, 
and is found in the western part of 
the State, bounded by the Cascade 
Mountains on the East, and by the 
Coast Range on the West. The river 
is a combination of the streams from 
these mountains, and winds its way 
north to the Columbia River in the 
vicinity of Portland. 

The vicinity of Oregon City seems 
destined to become noteworthy. Some- 

112 



time during the long ago, when old 
Mt. Hood was in the vigor of his 
youth, an attempt was evidently made 
on his part to possess the lower valley 
by throwing great fields of lava across 
it at the above mentioned point. 
Although the lava beds lay directly 
across the valley several hundred feet 
in depth, the river has cut through 
them gradually until it now falls over 
a broken precipice,about 40 feet high, 
to the lower level. The waterfall, as 
well as other favorable conditions, 
made this a home for the Indian. 
Even now there can be found a few 
remnants of the tribe that possessed 
these Falls before the appearance of 
the white man. Some of these aged 
aud tottering redmen tell how this 
valley was owned by the coyotes 
previous to the possession by the 
Indian. They tell how the great 
coyote chief would marshal his forces 
on the high bluffs, and then march 
down to give battle to the salmon and 
eels during their attempts at scaling 

113 



the falls to take possession of the 
valley above. 

Mt. Hood, coyote and Indian have 
each in turn relinquished his right to 
these beautiful falls, and they now 
are the property of the Portland 
General Electric Company, of Port- 
land, Oregon. 

A canal has been built to allow the 
steamboats to pass up the river to the 
many small cities above. A portion 
of this power is used for paper mills, 
woolen mills and various other kinds 
of manufacturing establishments. A 
great quantity has also been carried 
to Portland, some 14 miles away, for 
lighting and power purposes. 

The Portland General Electric Com- 
pany have control of both sides of the 
river at the Falls of the Willamette, 
and on the east side is found their 
Station A. This station is constructed 
on the lines of a manufacturing plant; 
that is, they use small units of power, 
and these are harnessed up by the use 
of line shafts, belts, etc. Station A 

114 



was a marvelous station when it was 
first constructed. It has a capacity 
of 3,000 horse-power, and now con- 
tains eight 1,500-light alternating- 
current generators, one 2,000-light 
alternating-current generator and 
nine 100-light arc dynamos. 

These dynamos have been furnish- 
ing light in Portland for some years 
past, and the success that attended the 
efforts of the promoters at this sta- 
tion, as well as their experience in its 
manipulation, led to a conception of 
an ideal power station. 

This power station is being grad- 
ually built as demands are made for 
power and light by the cities and 
towns within reach. Already five of 
its great dynamos are pouring into 
Portland the energy to propel all of 
the electric and cable cars in the city. 
The many suburban lines also get 
their power from this new power 
house, known as Station B. 

This great power house and its 
equipment furnish many new and 

115 




- 
o 



*' 

> 



valuable lessons to the student in 
mechanics. While it looks in general 
as a simple proposition in mechanics 
and hydraulics, yet its advancement 
and final success depended upon the 
solution of some of the most intricate 
problems that have yet appeared in 
developing electrical - water - power 
plants. It being an unqualified suc- 
cess makes it a lasting memorial to 
the energy of its promoters, and the 
genius and untiring zeal of the en- 
gineer who designed it and forced it 
to completion. 

Some of the problems solved de- 
serve special consideration, and a few 
of them will be noted. The most 
important one is the great variation 
in the head. There are times in the 
year when there is an available head of 
42 feet. This usually occurs in the 
late Summer and Autumn, after the 
Columbia Kiver has fallen. During 
the Summer months, when the Co- 
lumbia River is high, from the melting 
snow in the mountains, it backs the 

117 



Willamette up often to the height of 
20 feet, thereby deducting that 
amount from the height of the Falls. 
Since it is impractical to make a 
water-wheel run successfully at a 
given speed under variable heads, it 
was necessary to design a plant that 
could furnish its full power under a 
22-foot head, a 42-foot head, or any 
head that would range between these 
two extremes. 

On account of these changes in the 
tail water,the use of horizontal wheels 
was practically out of the question. 
If they could have been used, the 
problem would have been less grave, 
as a high head wheel and a low head 
wheel could have been attached to a 
horizontal dynamo, oneateithei end, 
and, by tUe use of friction clutches, 
these wheels could be connected or 
cut out at will. 

The design adopted and in use for 
each unit of power is two vertical 
turbines, whose upright shaits can be 
connected at will by tightening a great 

118 



connecting belt. The smaller turbine 
is on the side of the power house next 
to the river, and is designed to fur- 
nish 600 horse-power from 32 feet to 
the maximum head. The shaft of 
this turbine extends up to the 
dynamo-room floor, where it forms 
the axis of the armature of a great 
dynamo, which is the electrical unit 
of each section. 

The large turbine is on the canal 
side of the power house and is designed 
to furnish 600 horse-power at the 
lowest head of water. The two tur- 
bines are in the same iron penstock, 
and discharge into one large draft 
tube. The smaller wheel can be dis- 
connected, when the head is too low, 
by taking the pins out of a coupling 
below the drive pulley. It is now 
plain that the small wheel can furnish 
the desired amount of power alone 
under the higher heads ; also the 
large wheel can furnish it alone under 
the lower heads ; and the two wheels 
connected can furnish it under the 

119 



mean heads. The wheels and dynamos 
are of American design, and are regu- 
lated by governors, which are also of 
American design. 

A second difficulty was to support 
the great weights that were found in 
the shafts and pulleys. These in the 
main are supported by a system of 
collar or ring bearings that run con- 
stantly in oil. The weight of the 
armature is sustained by means of a 
drum piston head attached to the 
small turbine shaft. This fits closely 
into a cylinder that is supplied with 
oil at a pressure of 175 pounds per 
square inch. The oil is furnished 
from a separately driven pump, and 
the small wheel that drives it is auto- 
matically governed by the motion of 
the accumulator ram. All the thrust 
bearings are inclosed by water jackets, 
through which a constant flow is kept 
up by a separately driven water- 
pump, and by a gravity system from 
flumes. 

When this station is finished it will 

120 



constitute 22 sections, each one con- 
taining two water-wheels. The first 
section contains the two small pump- 
ing wheels, the second, third and 
fourth contains each a large and a 
small turbine, as described above; and 
the fifth contains two 500 horse-power 
turbines that drive the duplicate 
exciter dynamos. Seven more sec- 
tions are in the course of construction, 
and the balance will be built as neces- 
sity demands. 

The foundations and the building- 
are made from the finest quality 
of concrete, and rest on bed-rock 
from 25 to 36 feet below low-water 
mark. 

A third problem was transmission. 
The sub-station is in the center of 
Portland, 14 miles away. Willamette 
power must be carried to this dis- 
tributing point with as little loss as 
possible. The plan adopted is high- 
tension three-phase current, and the 
dynamos are constructed to generate 
at a pressure of 6,000 volts, which is 

121 



transformed to lower voltages in the 
Portland station. 

These machines are most extra- 
ordinary in their construction and 
performance. As stated before, they 
are of the vertical type, and were 
designed for this plant. The field 
magnets are supported by a great iron 
cylinder, about nine feet in diameter 
and five feet high. It is shaped so as 
to give a massive, yet symmetrical 
appearance. This great base is sur- 
mounted with a walk that surrounds 
the collector rings, and the walk is 
inclosed by a substantial and neatly 
designed railing, the whole presenting 
an artistic appearance, combining the 
desirable points, compactness, sim- 
plicity, capacity and durability. 

EachUf these dynamos wasdesigned 
to generate 600 horse-power at ^00 
revolutions. Practice has shown that 
they have generated 900 horse-power 
for days at a time, and it is thought 
that they could furnish 1,200 horse- 
power for a few hours with safety. 

122 



They each have a weight of about 
57,000 pounds. 

The two exciter dynamos are of a 
similar design, but they are only about 
three and one-half feet high. They 
furnish a direct current of 550 volts, 
and each has capacity to excite all of 
the large dynamos when the station 
is completed. The necessary switch- 
boards are placed in convenient places, 
and from these the wires lead direct 
to the sub-station in Portland. 

The sub-station is a neat, business- 
like institution. The lower story 
contains all of the transformers, 
switchboards and workshop. One 
apartment contains all of the station- 
ary transformers ; a second room 
contains all of the measuring instru- 
ments, switchboards and rotary trans- 
formers, and a third room is used for 
a repair shop. 

At present there are but two rotary 
transformers used. Each of these 
takes the current from one of the 
large dynamos, after it has been 

123 



stepped down, and makes of it a 
direct current of 550 volts pressure 
for the street-car and motor lines. 
The current for lighting purposes 
leaves the transformers direct to the 
city mains. 

The second story of the sub -station 
contains the offices of the company. 
They are commodious, neat and finely 
furnished. 

Here is a truly representative power 
plant. It is cosmopolitan in all its 
bearings. When finished it will have 
in use more water-wheels than any 
other known electric-power plant. It 
will operate more large dynamos than 
any known plant. It will have a 
capacity of 12,000 horse-power at the 
power station, in Oregon City, and 
the loss^in transmission to Portland 
is within 15 per cent. 

ELECTRIC POWER IN CANADA'S CAPI- 
TAL, OTTAWA, ONT. 

In reviewing the water-power-elec- 
trical development, it will be noticed 

124 



that none were quicker to see its 
advantages, or were earlier in the 
field, than our nearest American 
neighbors. It can be safely said that 
the first large, substantial electric- 
water-power building in America 
was built at Ottawa, Ont., by the 
Standard Electric Company. It is a 
massive stone building, equipped with 
all the best machinery known up to 
the date of its completion in 1891. 
This is referred to as Station No. 1 
in the description of stations that 
follows. 

Canada has many noteworthy devel- 
opments, but no city contains so many 
of them as her capital on the Ottawa 
River. This river is a tributary to 
the St. Lawrence and drains a heavily 
timbered valley in southern Canada. 
It also furnishes an outlet for a num- 
ber of lakes in the provinces of Quebec 
and Ontario. The river contains an 
abundance of water at all times dur- 
ing the year, and enters Ottawa with 
a grand leap known as the Chaudiere 

125 



Falls. The well timbered country 
up river and the above named falls 
make Ottawa one of the greatest 
lumbering and water-power cities in 
America, and this is beyond doubt 
why her citizens were among the first 
to use electricity generated from their 
natural power supply. 

All of the lighting and power, 
except that used by the street rail- 
ways, is furnished by the Ottawa 
Electric Company. This company is 
an amalgamation of three electric 
lighting companies, and has four 
separate water-power stations, also a 
station operated by steam as an auxil- 
iary, used only during the Winter 
months, when the river is filled with 
anchor ice to such an extent as to 
interfere with any of the water 
stations. 

Station No. 1 (mentioned above) 
contains a number of large alternat- 
ing lighting generators, also several 
large power generators, all of Cana- 
dian design and make. These are 

126 



driven by means of counter-shafts 
and belts from five 66-inch water- 
wheels, running under 16% feet head. 
The wheels are all of Canadian manu- 
facture, and use governors from the 
United States. The capacity of the 
five wheels is 1,825 horse-power, and 
they are all of the vertical type, in 
which bevel core gears are used to 
transmit the power to horizontal 
shafts. 

Station No. 2 is the arc lighting 
station, and contains three vertical 
turbines 60 inches in diameter, and 
one 48 inches in diameter. The 
power is transmitted to counter-shafts 
in this station by the means of rope 
drives, and the estimated capacity 
approximates 1,468 horse-power. 

Station No. 3 is the steam auxil- 
iary, and has a capacity of 1,200 
horse-power. 

Station No. 4 contains two 60-inch 
and one 48-inch vertical water-wheels, 
running under 16^ feet head. This 
station is devoted to alternating light- 

127 



ing, and uses governors from the 
United States. The wheels of this 
station, as well as Station No. 2, are 
of Canadian make and design. The 
capacity of Station No. 4 is 920 horse- 
power. 

Station No. 5 contains four 48-inch 
and two 60-inch vertical water-wheels, 
running under about 14 feet head. 
This station furnishes direct current 
for incandescent lighting, and uses 
governors from the United States. 
The capacity of this station is 1,188 
horse-power. 

This shows an aggregate of 5,401 
horse-power, exclusive of the steam 
plant, furnished by one company for 
the lighting and the small power of 
the city. 

Added to the above is the power 
from the Ottawa Electric Railway 
Company's power plant. This plant 
is run by water also, and has a capacity 
of 1,500 horse-power, making a total 
of 6,901 horse-power used in only one 
of Canada's many cities. 

128 



The above mentioned railway com- 
pany are among the first that at- 
tempted to use water power to drive 
electric generators for street railway 
purposes. They have iucreased their 
power and improved their machinery 
until the plant has a capacity of 1,500 
horse-power in three units; one 700 
horse-power generator, and two 400 
horse-power generators. These ma- 
chines were designed and built in the 
United States. 

The water-wheel gates are operated 
in this station by hand through a 
frictional gearing, and the extreme 
fluctuations in voltage are overcome 
by separately exciting the field mag- 
nets of the generators. 

This plan seems to have been 
original in this plant, as it also was 
in several plants in the United States, 
and the success that has attended its 
use in all cases should commend it to 
the serious consideration of the 
owners of water-power plants in 
America. 

129 



The idea is to excite the fields from 
a constant-speed dynamo, thereby 
keeping a given pressure; hence, even 
current for exciting purposes. The 
voltage on the power generator can 
then only vary in the same ratio as 
the speed, where, if self excited, it 
would vary in about double the ratio 
of the speed. 

Ottawa has 30 miles of electric rail- 
ways. It has some fine parks and 
athletic grounds that furnish patron- 
age for the street railways. It is a 
city of 50,000 people, and boasts of 
having an incandescent light for each 
of its population. The city is three 
and one-third hours by rail from 
Montreal, the metropolis, and is only 
a few hours from the United States 
line. _=* 

Ottawa is recognized as being of 
first importance, electrically, in the 
Dominion, and enjoys the distinction 
of having first solved the snow prob- 
lem, demonstrating that an uninter- 
rupted electric street railway service 

130 



could be successfully maintained 
throughout a Canadian Winter. 

There are many more interesting- 
water-power plants in Canada, but the 
writer has not the time or space to 
devote to ;hem. The data for this 
paper was furnished by the general 
superintendent of the Ottawa Elec- 
tric Company, to whom obligation is 
acknowledged for the courtesy so 
promptly shown. 



131 



CHAPTER XX. 



THE GREATEST OF ELECTRIC-WATER- 
POWER PROPOSITIONS, NIAGARA 
FALLS. 

So much has been published about 
this great power proposition, and it 
hascome from such eminent authority, 
that it seems almost unpardonable 
for the writer to make any attempt to 
add to a subject that has been so 
thoroughly discussed. In fact, noth- 
ing can be added. The newspapers, 
magazines, technical journals and 
encyclopedias have all furnished such 
accurate and reliable information 
that it is out of the question to pro- 
duce anything that has not been 
written many times before; yet if this 
great installation were omitted from 
these papers, they would be less com- 
plete than now, so at least an effort 

133 



must be made, even though it falls 
far short of additional information. 

The harnessing of Niagara on so 
large a scale as proposed by the 
Niagara Falls Power Company is a 
crowning achievement, and marks an 
epoch in history. A few thousand 
years hence, when gravity can be 
reversed at will, when all needed 
power can be had direct from the 
sun's rays, when food can be made 
directly from the elements, when now 
unknown forces are subservient to 
man, and when the great power 
house is crumbling to dust, then may 
be found the papers that are sealed in 
its corner-stone. They will be relics 
of the "Electric Age/' and the student 
in history can learn that at about the 
beginning of the twentieth century 
the Niagara Kiver represented about 
8,000,000 gross horse-power at the 
point where the falls were at that 
time; that a great corporation was 
formed to develop about 450,000 
horse-power; that a commission of 

133 



great engineers sat in London (then 
the greatest city of the times); that 
this commission examined plans from 
all parts of the world^and adopted 
the idea of transmitting energy b} 7 the 
primitive electricity to parts of the 
land where the primitive factories of 
that age were located. The historical 
student may even smile at the method 
of lighting used at that time, when 
only five per cent of the energy used 
was converted into light. 

Coming back to the present, we can 
say that some of the wheels of this 
great power plant have been running 
constantly for a year and meet the 
expectations of their designers. The 
Niagara Palls Power Company have 
reason to believe that their great plans 
were well founded, and are now at 
work excavating for space to install 
more water-wheels. The following is 
the work completed up to the 
present: 

First, is a great tunnel. This is an 
excavation that meets the lower river 

134 



level almost under the new Suspension 
Bridge, near Prospect Park. This 
tunnel is a brick arch starting at the 
river level, and extends up along the 
river a distance of 7,000 feet. It runs 
immediately under the business part 
of the city, and its purpose is to serve 
as a tail-race for the great turbine 
wheels at its upper end. The extreme 
up-river end of the tunnel is 145 feet 
below the upper river level, and this 
difference is the head used in furnish- 
ing water pressure for power develop- 
ment. 

Second^ a canal 200 feet wide by 12 
feet deep is cut from the river to the 
power house, and great pen-stocks 
carry the water down the pit to the 
large double water-wheels. These are 
the most powerful wheels ever built. 
They were designed by engineers in 
Switzerland, and can develop 5,000 
horse-power each. They consist of 
two vertical wheels about five feet in 
diameter. Oneisplaced 15 feet above 
the other, and the water enters the 

135 




?ggg^^^&m&£mmmi^^m^m& 



Yig. 7.— Partial Vertical Sectional View of the Niagara 
Falls Power Company's Great Plant. 



wheel case between the two. The 
disk of the upper wheel furnishes the 
only cover for the wheel case, hence 
the pressure against it supports the 
wheel shaft, as well as the weight of 
the dynamo parts above. 

The wheel shaft extends up to the 
surface and is surmounted with the 
inverted cup-shaped dynamo field sup- 
port. The wheel shaft mentioned is 
a hollow steel cylinder 38 inches in 
diameter, except at the bearings, where 
it is reduced to a solid shaft 11 inches 
in diameter. The wheel cases are 
made of iron that is three inches in 
thickness, and are well calculated to 
withstand the fluctuations in pressure 
caused by governing the turbines. 
The speed of the wheels is 250 revolu- 
tions per minute at normal, and the 
regulating is done by governors de- 
signed by the engineers that planned 
all of the hydraulic machinery used. 

It is understood tnat each unit of 
power consists of the pair of turbines 
on the lower end of the shaft, just 

137 



referred to, and a great dynamo at 
the upper end. This dynamo is a 
type of the Tesla polyphase alter- 
nating-current system and generates 
a two-phase current at a pressure of 




Fig. 8. — Special Type of Alternating Current 
Ammeter Used by the Niagara Falls Power 
Company. 



from 2,000 to 2,400 volts, according 
to the distance that the power is 
transmitted. 

Triese greatest of electrical machines 
are practically a summing up, on a 

138 



comprehensive scale, of all the known 
advantages in dynamo construction 
and power transmission, and were 
designed by the engineers of the 
Cataract Construction Company, who 
had in charge this part of the work. 
They have a capacity of 5,000 elec- 
trical horse-power, a weight of 170,- 
000 pounds each, and are by far the 
most powerful dynamos ever con- 
structed. 

The armatures of these dynamos 
are of the vertical type; that is, they 
set on end and they are stationary. 
This allows the current to leave them 
through solid connections, which is 
of great advantage where such a vol- 
ume of power passes. No commuta- 
tors or collectors are required. The 
wheel shaft extends up through the 
standing armature and connects the 
umbrella or cup-shaped field-magnet 
ring. This field-magnet ring or 
cylinder is made of nickel-steel of 
the highest magnetic qualities. The 
fields themselves are attached to this 

139 



ring and revolve around the motion- 
less armature. The only sliding 
contacts are the collector rings that 
receive the exciting current for the 
field magnets. The power for excit- 
ing purposes comes from the great 
dynamos, after being straightened out 
by a rotary transformer. 

The static transformers of this 
installation are all found in a sub- 
stantial building across the head canal 
from the power house. The switch- 
boards are ideally located on an ele- 
vated platform near the center of the 
building. 

Only one power house has been 
built up to the present, and it is not 
yet finished. When completed, it will 
have 10 sections, and each section 
embracejtone of the water-wheels and 
dynamos just mentioned. The build- 
ing is made from cut stone, lined 
inside with tile brick, and is completed 
for four sections. Three of these are 
equipped with working machinery 
that can furnish 15,000 horse-power 

140 



of the 50,000 that will be furnished 
from this one great installation. 

It will be understood that each and 
every piece of machinery in this plant 
was especially built for it, even the 
voltmeters and ammeters. The great 
traveling electric crane that moves 
from end to end of the power house 
had to be designed for the immense 
weights that must be sustained in 
handling the parts during construc- 
tion. 

All of the machinery in this instal- 
lation was built in America. Some 
of it was designed in Europe, but all 
designs were selected on a competitive 
basis, and some handsome cash pre- 
miums were paid to Americans in 
recognition of the worth of designs 
presented. While the great scheme 
is in America, its interests are not all 
here. They are of a more cosmopoli- 
tan character. The original plans 
call for one more tunnel on the United 
States side of the falls, and two more 
on the Canadian side. 

141 



This proposition is not the venture 
of an individual or of a people; it is a 
creation by peoples, a product of the 
times. 

The Niagara Falls Power Company 
is preparing to furnish power as a 
business proposition. It can furnish 
it in large or small quantities, at 
home or abroad. By the use of the 
polyphase system it can furnish power 
in quantities at any desired point in 
the eastern part of the United States 
or Canada. Within a radius of 100 
miles it can furnish power cheaper 
than steam. And there are proposi- 
tions where power is used that could 
economize by using Niagara energy 
at a distance of 200 to 400 miles 
away. The long-distance transmis- 
sion problem is fully solved. It is 
now a problem of installation and 
confidence. 

The company owns large tracts of 
land in Niagara Falls and vicinity, 
and can furnish power for any or all 
kinds of manufacturing purposes, as 

143 



Fig. 10.— Special Type of Porcelain Insulator 
Used on Niagara Falls-Buffalo Transmis- 
sion Line. 



144 



well as a site for works,, in that cen- 
trally located section. 

Up to the present time the power 
supplied from this plant aggregates 
4,500 horse-power. This is supplied 
to tenants of the company and other 
customers within a radius of about a 
mile. A line for transmitting 20,000 
horse-power to Buffalo is now in 
process of construction. 

The purposes for which this power 
is now used are : The manufacture of 
aluminum by the Hall electrolytic 
process, the manufacture of car- 
borundum under the Acheson patents, 
the production of calcic carbide and 
the operation of the polyphase motors. 
Two motors of 300 horse-power each 
furnish the supply of power in an 
electric lighting station, also current 
for several street railways, including 
the one between Niagara Falls and 
Tonawanda. A number of additional 
plants are in process of installation 
by tenants of the company, and the 
aggregate power contracted for 

145 

(10) 



amounts to about 10,000 horse-power. 
The water flow at Niagara is cease- 
less,, hence its power is reliable. In 
time it should propel every railway 
train between New York and Chicago, 
as well as furnish power for many of 
our manufacturing centers. 

Already on a special occasion it has 
turned wheels in New York city, 
nearly 500 miles distant. 



146 



CHAPTER XXL 



FURTHER PROOFS THAT HARXESSIXG 

WATERFALLS ELECTRICALLY 

IS A REALISM. 

Among the more important devel- 
opments in the United States there 
stands one of peculiar interest ; 
namely, the Austin power and trans- 
mission. This is a widely known work 
established at Austin, Texas. The pro- 
moters in this case were the citizens 
of the State's capital, and the energy 
shown m the planning and com- 
pletion of this mammoth enterprise 
proves that the North and West are 
not alone in keeping abreast of the 
times. A massive cut-granite dam 
1,200 feet long by 60 feet high has 
been built across the Colorado River, 
backing it up for 28 miles and form- 
ing Lake McDonald, named after the 

147 



Mayor who served three terms of 
office during its construction and 
completion. A magnificent power 
house has been built, three miles from 
Austin, from which electric light, 
power, heat and the city's water sup- 
ply is being constantly furnished. 
Already 2,000 electrical horse-power 
can be furnished to the wires. There 
is also a pumping capacity of 1,000 
horse-power installed. The water 
supply will warrant a use of 9,000 
horse-power, and the necessary pen- 
stocks and headgates are all provided. 
Here is an excellent opportunity for 
cotton manufacturers to get cheap 
electric power immediately in the 
cotton belt where labor is cheap. 
Great credit is due oar Austin friends 
for the bold undertaking, as well as 
for its successful completion and 
manipulation. 

At Bangor, Me., the electric light- 
ing and power for the city has been 
transmitted from Veazie, Me., four 
miles distant, for the past five years. 

149 



The Penobscot River is turning dyna- 
mos at the latter place and over ],000 
horse-power is used for driving street 
cars, lighting and small power pur- 
poses. This is among our early in- 
stallations and was pushed to comple- 
tion by the Public Works Company, 
of Bangor. 

Among the earlier users of water 
power for lighting purposes were the 
citizens of Rochester, N. Y. The 
lighting and small power is furnished 
from four water-power plants on the 
Genesee River, which passes through 
the city. Some of these plants have 
been running day and night for eight 
years. 

At Columbia, S. C, the Columbia 
Cotton Mills Company have erected 
their factories on high land convenient 
for shipping, and transmit by the 
polyphase system about 1,500 horse- 
power one-quarter of a mile. This 
installation, as well as the following 
one, marks a new era in cotton manu- 
facturing. 

150 



At Baltic, Ct., there is developed 
about 800 horse-power that is trans- 
mitted four and one-half miles to the 
factories at Taftville, Ct. 

Among the earlier water-power 
developments in the United States is 
the power house of the Ithaca Street 
Railway Company, Ithaca, N. Y. 
The station sets in a pocket at the 
bottom and side of Fall Brook gorge. 
By the use of a long steel pipe two of 
the cataracts are made to furnish a 
head of 94 feet. On account of the 
long, closed flume of 600 feet, it was 
found necessary to use a stand-pipe 
and air chambers immediately over 
the two double horizontal turbines. 
This precaution was necessary on 
account of the regulation of the tur- 
bines. Here also is to be found a 
good example of draft-tube regula- 
tion, which was also necessary on 
account of the long flume or penstock. 
This power house furnishes 800 horse- 
power for lighting and power pur- 
poses in Ithaca, the seat of Cornell 

151 



University. It also propels the street 
cars up the steep grades to the campus 
overlooking Cayuga Lake. Two re- 
markable facts are demonstrated in 
this installation. The first is that 
heavily loaded street cars can climb 
long steep grades full of curves suc- 
cessfully, even when the grades range 
as steep as 12 per cent in some places 
and average eight per cent for one- 
half mile or more in others. The 
second fact is that they can be driven 
and governed successfully by water 
power. 

At Great Falls, Montana, there is 
available over 200,000 horse-power 
that can be readily used for transmit- 
ting purposes. The Missouri River 
falls in cascades for a distance of 12 
miles, and the separate falls range 
from 10 to 90 feet in height, the sum 
total being about 700 feet fall. There 
is about 10,000 horse-power developed 
and nearly all of it is electrical devel- 
opment. It is mainly used for smelt- 
ing purposes by the electrolytic proc- 

152 



ess. The city is lighted electrically 
from tie water power and the street 
railways are furnished current from 
the same source. Montana is a great 
copper-producing State, and here in 
the copper region is provided the 
Great Falls of the Missouri, which 
can be harnessed to smelt copper for 
use in harnessing more of the water- 
falls of the world. 

The Augusta Street Railway, of 
Augusta, Ga., was among the first in 
the field to drive street cars by water 
power. The lighting and small power 
of the city is also furnished electric- 
ally by water power. 

At Columbus, Ga., a new and more 
modern electric power plant has lately 
been finished, and one of the finest 
electric railway systems in the country 
is furnished current from this water- 
power station. 

Spokane, Wash., is furnished power 
and light from a large power house 
below the falls. This water-power 
plant is one of th^ earlier develop- 

153 



merits. The power units are small, 
but the plant is extensive. There is 
great opportunity for electrical de- 
velopment for smelting purposes at 
Spokane Falls. 

Another interesting installation is 
the transmission plant of E. G. Stoiber, 
Silverton, Colo. Water power is har- 
nessed and transmitted by electric 
current for three miles to the Silver 
Lake mines. Its operation and 
economy have been so satisfactory 
that the power house is being en- 
larged, and the water power supple- 
mented with steam. It has been 
found more economical to transmit 
the power to the mines electrically 
than to haul it there in the form of 
fuel. An interesting feature of this 
private installation is that it will be 
the largest electric power plant in 
Colorado when finished. 

At Se walls Falls, N. H., great 
quantities of power are generated 
and carried by electrical transmission 
to Concord, four miles away, to 

154 



turn the factory wheels in that 
city. 

At Lowel], Mass., water-electric 
power is transmitted 14 miles to drive 
street cars. 

Near Nevada City, Cal., the Nevada 
County Electric Power Company have 
tapped the South Yuba Kiver and 
carried the water nearly seven miles in 
a wooden flume to a mountain spur. 
Here they drop it 210 feet through 
their power house and transmit the 
power electrically from five to twelve 
miles to surrounding towns and mining 
camps. They have already installed 
1,200 horse-power of wheels and dy- 
namos. 

At Redlands, Cal., the Redlands 
Electric Power Company have caught 
a mountain stream before losing itself 
in the plains, and have been compel- 
ling it to furnish power and light for 
the city for some years past. The 
plant is now increased to 1,000 horse- 
power capacity and the transmission 
is seven and one-half miles. The 

155 



lines will be lengthened to reach some 
neighboring cities. 

At Hartford, Ct., 300 horse-power 
is transmitted 11 miles to a synchro- 
nous motor that drives the dynamos 
in a power station. 

At Telluride, Colo., 1,000 horse- 
power is transmitted 15 miles elec- 
trically. 

At Pelzer, S. C, the Pelzer Manu- 
facturing Company have installed a 
water-power and transmitting plant 
to carry 5,000 horse-power three and 
one-half miles to factories located 
convenient for shipping facilities. 

The St. Anthony's Falls Water 
Power Company, Minneapolis, Minn., 
are at present working on an electric 
water-power station of 10,000 horse- 
power capacity. The Pioneer Elec- 
tric Company, of Ogden, Utah, are 
building a long transmission plant of 
5,000 horse-power capacity. The 
Power Development Company, of 
Bakersfield, Cal., are installing a 
1,500 horse-power transmission plant 

156 



in that vicinity. There is a 15-mile 
transmission at Pomona, Cal., a 13- 
mile transmission at Bodie, Cal., and 
a seven-mile transmission at Ander- 
son, S. C, of about 150 horse-power 
each. 

There are many more new projects 
under way, and there are many now 
in service that are not essentially long- 
distance transmission plants. There 
are many central stations that use 
water entirely or in part for motive 
power, the water being used to its 
limit before the steam is turned on. 

It does not seem out of place to 
make brief mention of some of the 
long-distance transmitting electric 
water-power installations in foreign 
countries before closing. 

First might be mentioned the 
Lauffen-Frankfort experiment. This 
was a governmental experiment in 
1892, in which 200 horse-power was 
transmitted from the dynamos in the 
water-power station at Lauffen to 
Frankfort, 109 miles distant. Step- 

157 



up transformers were used in this 
installation. While the pressure at 
the dynamo was only 50 volts, it was 
raised to 40,000 volts on the trans- 
mitting line. The maximum loss 
between the water-wheel shaft at 
Lauffen and the motor shaft in Frank- 
fort was only 28 per cent. Greater 
losses than this can be found in many 
of our finest manufacturing plants 
where power is carried short distances 
by mechanical means. 

At Pachuca, Mexico. 2,000 horse- 
power is transmitted 23 miles. At 
Guadalajara, Mexico, 350 horse-power 
is carried 18 miles. 

The city of Rome, Italy, receives 
9,000 horse-power from waterfalls at 
Tivoli, 16 miles distant. Milan, Italy, 
will usert0,000 horse-power from a 
water power 19 miles away, and 1,000 
horse-power is transmitted 18 miles 
from the river Gorzente to Genoa, 
Italy. In Sweden there is an eight- 
mile transmitting plant, carrying 400 
horse-power into the city of Gringes- 

158 



berg, and at St. Uyacinthe, Quebec, 
there is a transmission of 450 horse- 
power a distance of five miles from 
the Kichelieu River. Another note- 
worthy development in Canada is the 
harnessing of Montmorency Falls to 
supply Quebec with power and light. 
All of the above plants use polyphase 
currents. 

A further evidence is the interest 
taken in transmission by Japan. 
That plucky Oriental nation is never 
slow to see advantages. Japan is a 
mountainous country. Her people 
are lovers of nature, but the ad- 
vantages to be gained by harnessing 
her waterfalls have become so appar- 
ent that the government intends to 
develop the water powers for the 
advantage of the citizens. At this 
writing there is a commission in the 
United States from Japan, who are 
investigating power transmissions, as 
well as the telephone and other elec- 
trical conveniences. This commission 
is headed by Mr. Seirio Mine, elec- 

159 



trical engineer to tfie Department of 
Communications of the Mikado's 
Government, Tokyo, Japan. Mr. 
Mine has spent several weeks on the 
Pacific slope, and will visit Niagara 
and other propositions in the East 
before returning to Japan. 

The adoption of electrical trans- 
mission by our wide-awake mining 
companies is a most telling proof of 
its value. By its use low-grade ores 
that are distant from fuel or water 
power can be made to yield good 
returns, and mines that are above the 
snow line can be worked as readily as 
if they were at the mountain's base; 
the distant torrent can furnish light 
and power for mining, as well as heat 
for smelting purposes. Since electric 
cars aver rivals of the " burro" in 
climbing hills, we may expect to see 
our great mining districts supplied 
with transportation facilities that will 
help greatly toward their proper 
development. 

The matter of propelling our rail- 

160 



way trains up the mountains by elec- 
tricity and water power is being more 
and more discussed every day. Many 
heretofore valueless water powers are 
finding their way into the hands of 
shrewd business men. The world in 
general is becoming more aroused to 
the possibilities of electrical trans- 
mission, and when it appreciates fully 
the advantages that can be obtained 
by ''electricity and water power/'' 
then we will have reached the full 
dawn of the "Electric Age," 




m 



With our new "Relay*' 
Water-Wheel Gov- 
ernors we are prepared 
to furnish and guarantee 
regulation of water-pow- 
er, under proper condi- 
tions within limits usual- 
ly attained by the best 
Corliss engine practice. 



We have Governors of 
various sizes, suited for 
all classes of work, but 
rive especial attention 
to paper and tex- 
tile mills, and elec- 
tric light, power 
and railway 
plants. Corre- 
spondence solic- 
ited 




THE REPLOGLE GOVERNOR WORKS, 



Akron, 0. 



162 



WATER WHEELS 

MANY SPECIAL BUILT STYLES, UPRIGHT AND HORIZONTAL 

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FOUR Wheels, 5600 H.P., Glen Pulp Co., Berlin Falls, N.H., 46 Feet Head 
FOUR Wheels, 8000 H. P., Electric Plant at Niagara Falls, 215 Feet Head. 
FOUR Wheels, 1000 H. P., Mining Plant, Ward, Col., 750 Feet Head. 

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JAMES LEFFEL & CO., Springfield, Ohio, U.S.A. 




163 



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* NEW YORK CITY. 

164 



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165 



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